Entropy
by Angel of Mysteries
Summary: Graduated and returning to the Falls for good, Dipper finds a friend in a shady young magician-William- that vaguely reminds him of the demon that returned to making his life complicated the night he came back. Amidst making deals with Bill and learning how to run the Shack, Dipper begins investigating a new threat to the town he calls home- a true apocalypse looming overhead.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there everyone! I posted this originally on AO3, and after completing NaNoWriMo last month I decided that I'd also put it up on here. This fic _will_ be BillDip, so I don't advise reading if it's not your cup of tea ^-^**

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen!" an overexcited voice called into a microphone at the front of the stage. "I'm proud to present the Piedmont High School class of 2018!"

Mabel Pines smiled brightly with brace-free, pristine white teeth at the audience before continuing her speech. "Before we go on to the more fun stuff, I'd like to read a little something for you guys that I literally wrote last night!"

From his spot beside the other graduates and the empty chair that belonged to his twin, Dipper smiled at her enthusiasm. How she'd managed to pull the spot of valedictorian, he'd never know. His eyes briefly caught hers and he smiled wider and gave her a thumbs up.

She cleared her throat, then began the poem that she'd recited about a million times in front of the mirror the night before.

"Farewell to my greatest comrades –

The years have been many, and the struggle long.

The wise ones still doubt we'll go very far –

But that's okay, I promise we'll prove them wrong.

As you go on into the unknown,

A piece of advice to carry you home –

Love comes and goes, it dies and we grow.

There's uncertainty around every corner,

And demons to make you falter.

Never forget though –

No matter how you think it,

You're never alone."

Applause rang out as Mabel finished her speech, but quickly died when she pulled out a device that strongly resembled a mix between a gun and a cannon.

Dipper knew better though, and his grin was the only one that remained as she pulled the trigger back.

"Confetti time!" She screamed, releasing. A large burst of confetti shot from the cannon and scattered over the crowd. "Thank you Piedmont!"

She flounced quickly back to her seat, her smile about a mile wide at that point. The audience clapped again, though less enthusiastic than before.

The ceremony went on, and finally came the time for names to be called and students to receive their diplomas.

Dipper relaxed in his seat and lightly closed his eyes, knowing that Mabel was far too high from Mabel Juice to let him completely let him fall asleep.

Surely enough, it seemed like only a few seconds had passed before Mabel was gently shaking his arm. "Dipper," she whispered as he blinked his eyes open. "Our row is next."

"Thanks," he mumbled back, shaking his head slightly to ease the sleep from it and sitting up straighter.

Only a moment more passed before his entire row stood and filed over to the steps leading onto the stage, his luck making him the first to go.

"Dipper Pines!" His name was called over the microphone and he took a jolting step forward in response, everything suddenly feeling like a dream.

Time slowed as he stepped forward and seemed to stop as he shook his principal's hand and murmured a thank you.

He looked over to the crowd and quickly found the section his parents were seated in. They were next to Grunkle Stan and Grandpa Stanley, and between the two older twins sat a guy around his age with a wide smile on his young face.

The teen had scruffy blonde hair that covered one eye, and the other was a cerulean color, the brightest blue he'd ever seen on a male.

He smirked and quickly blinked when he caught Dipper's eye, though he could have sworn that he had winked at him.

Time sped up again, and he looked back at his principal and gave him one last nod, then walked off in time to hear his sister's name get called. A few moments passed and a resounding whoop from his twin echoed around the auditorium as he took his seat.

Mabel joined him quickly, her face slightly flushed from the pure excitement and energy that he was sure was coursing through her system.

"We did it Bro Bro!" she whisper-yelled enthusiastically, shaking him a little. "Wasn't my speech badass? And the confetti? They loved me! Best valedictorian speech ever given!"

"It was," he agreed hollowly, glancing back toward where his family was seated, noting that the mysterious teen was gone. Had that all been in his head? Who was he?

He looked back at Mabel to see that she was frowning and gave her a small smile in reconciliation. "Sorry, I thought I saw something funny when I was on the stage."

"Ooh! Like what?" Mabel asked, scooting her chair closer to his so they could talk quieter.

"It was just some guy," he replied despondently, brushing off the incident. "He looked like he was sitting with Grandpa Stanley and Grunkle Stan though, which is why it was so weird."

His twin giggled quietly, "you dummy! They brought somebody with them because he really wanted to see us graduate! When I talked to Grunkle Stan, he wouldn't tell me much besides the fact that the kid's been staying and working at the shack since the beginning of the year."

"Did you catch a name?" he asked her curiously, glancing over at the audience again.

She shook her head, "no, but we'll be properly introduced to him on the way to Gravity Falls. I'm so excited to go back!"

The last of the graduates filed over to their spots, and a moment later the rest of the class stood on their cue. Dipper felt a small rush of excitement wash over him as he finally realized that _this was it_. After the next half hour, he would no longer have to get up for school ever again, that after today he would be officially recognized as an adult.

"Class of 2018," the principal began solemnly, though there was a smile on his face. "This is the last act you will perform as Piedmont High students, and these are the last instructions you'll receive from me."

"The turning of the tassels symbolizes one's transition from candidate to graduate. And in this act, you are taking an oath to yourself and to your community. The oath states as follows: We vow never to disgrace our city or ourselves by being cowardly and dishonest. We will continue to strive toward the sacred ideals that we hold dear. We will respect and obey the city's laws and we will do our best to inspire others to do the same. In all these ways, we create a better, brighter place for ourselves, and for those who will come after us. I would now like to ask the graduating class of 2018 to turn your tassels from right to left."

Mabel and Dipper switched their tassels at the exact same time. As they caught one another's eye they quickly fistbumped and tossed their caps into the air, much like their classmates were. The audience cheered enthusiastically and some of the more outgoing seniors, Mabel included, whistled back to them.

It took a while for the crowd to begin dispersing and for the twins to make their way over to their family. The blond-haired teen was back, Dipper noticed, and he was wearing his seemingly ever-present smirk again.

"Dipper Pines!" the teen exclaimed in a voice that was oddly high for a male his age. "It's great to finally meet you!" He held out a hand and Dipper hesitantly took it.

It was like something electric, the sensation Dipper got from holding his hand. He found that, like with the male's voice, he didn't completely mind.

"I'm Dipper," he started awkwardly, "but you already knew that."

"I just couldn't believe my ears when I heard that you'd be coming to stay at the shack for the summer!" The teen continued enigmatically. "I thought to myself – finally! Another interesting person to roam the woods with!"

"Yeah…" he let the thought trail off, finally letting go of the teen's hand. "Look, I'm sorry, but who are you?"

The question didn't deter him, rather, his smile grew wider. "My name's William!" Your great uncle hired me to work for him a while back and told me that I could stay in the shack. I was thinking that we'd be roommates for the summer, but Stanley said that you and Mabel are used to sharing. It's not the biggest problem though, I just kinda built my own home at the edge of the woods."

"It's nice to meet you," Dipper replied cordially, thinking. It'd been a year since he and Mabel had last shared a room, and he wasn't even sure that she would want to this year.

Thinking of his twin…where was she anyway? He looked around and found her chattering animatedly to Grunkle Stan. She pulled out the confetti cannon that she'd with and modified last summer, and he laughed heartily and ruffled her hair.

"She's quite a gal," William said quietly from his place beside Dipper. "Are you going to miss her when she goes to ULA?"

He nodded. "Of course, but…" he hesitated. Did he really want to completely reveal a secret of Mabel's to a guy he'd only just met? He settled for a half-truth and continued. "A friend of hers is going too, and Mabel worked really hard to get in. I'm too happy for her to really be very upset."

"It makes sense," William mused, nodding slowly. "And what about you? What college will you be attending?"

He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "Well…"

"Dipper hasn't decided yet!" Mabel interjected, appearing seemingly from out of nowhere. "Have you Bro Bro?"

He shot her a grateful smile and shook his head. In reality, that was half the reason he was going to Gravity Falls in the first place.

"Hello," William said politely to Mabel, his grin wide again. "That was some speech you made there."

"Thanks!" Mabel beamed at him, smiling back brightly. "It's great to meet you William!"

"The same to you!" he replied enthusiastically. "I heard that you have a knack for making some pretty fancy sweaters and it tends to get pretty cold in the winter. Do you think you can make me a few?"

She nodded quickly, her eyes lighting up with more euphoria than she'd had all week. "Of course! I'll make you one for every cold day of the year!"

"Oh," he laughed in an almost awkward fashion, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly much like Dipper had. "That won't be nece-"

"Nonsense!" Mabel cut in, waving her hand dismissively. "It won't be a problem and besides – we can't have you wearing a single sweater twice within the same year span!"

"Don't try to defy her," Dipper warned, a slight smirk crossing his lips. "It won't end very well." With that being said, he walked over to the rest of his family, allowing Mabel some time to brainstorm sweater ideas with William.

"…And as hard as it is to say this, I'm actually kinda proud of him," Grunkle Stan was saying to his parents. "He'll be useful when it comes to running the shop this summer."

Even though his parents were proud of him graduating with honors and all, his Grunkle's plan to teach him how to run the shop was frowned upon and had often been the subject of many late night arguments over the last year.

"He probably won't be able to stay very long," his father pointed out, half scowling. "Freshman orientation for Harvard starts pretty early into the summer."

"Actually, I'd love to run the shack," Dipper input as he walked up to them. "So long as I get a pay raise, it'll be a good use of time."

"You'll miss orientation," his father reiterated through gritted teeth.

"That's for summer classes," he retaliated, shooting his father a small glare. "Fall class orientation doesn't start until the end of July."

"We should start heading out to Dustee's," his mom cut in, checking her watch. "Our reservations are at 7:30 and their management doesn't tolerate lateness."

Dipper sighed, "I'll go get Mabel…"

He turned to go fetch them but to his surprise, they were already headed over, Mabel grinning excitedly and William gazing down at her with something that looked akin to affection in his eyes.

"Did the sweater planning go _that_ well?" he asked skeptically the second she was within hearing range. She glanced at William mysteriously then nodded her head, her smile widening.

"Awesome," he muttered under his breath, glancing at the duo. Mabel had already confided in Dipper about her feelings for Pacifica Northwest a long time ago, so what was she playing at? Unless it would spin off into some sort of attempt to make the rich girl jealous, it seemed like she was going back to her old boy crazy habits.

"Mabel here was just telling me about your old crush on that red-headed cashier girl," William teased, blinking as rapidly as he had done earlier. This time, he was sure that it was a wink.

He flushed and looked down, embarrassed that the Wendy subject had been brought up to the stranger so quickly. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I'm over it though."

 _Way over it,_ he thought hollowly, thinking of the last time he'd seen Wendy – they hadn't been on the best of terms. He _hated_ fighting with her, but the mysteries of Gravity Falls were too important for him to just let it go. Obsessed, she'd snapped at him before storming out of the shack.

He shook the memory away at the sensation of a tugging on his graduation robe's sleeve. Mabel had gone over to the rest of the family already, leaving William to stare at him curiously.

"Something wrong?" the blond asked in a concerned tone.

"It's nothing," he murmured, shrugging off the question and walking over to where the rest of the family was. "Just an old memory."

Luckily for him, the teen didn't say anything else.

* * *

"This is a pretty nice place you've got here!" William commented as the remainder of the Pines family pulled into the driveway of their gated-community home. "I didn't think that reserved people such as yourselves lived in such luxury!"

"It took a long time for us to be able to have this," Dipper told him as he undid his seatbelt and stepped out of the car that he shared with Mabel and the blond-haired teen.

Their parents were already home, and both Stans wanted to set off to Gravity Falls as quickly as possible. William would be staying at the Pines residence for the night so he could accompany them on the journey over to Gravity Falls.

"You should have seen the trailer we were living in before," Mabel added, stepping out of her spot in the backseat. "Dad got seriously promoted in his job the first summer we went to Gravity Falls and he had this place built while we were gone."

"So that's how everything started," William mused, glancing up at the sky intently. "And you guys just kept going back? You cared about the mysteries that much?"

"You know about that?" Dipper asked him suddenly in a quiet tone, stopping in his tracks and staring unashamedly at him.

William looked down and over to him, smiling widely. "I live in Gravity Falls," he pointed out. "A person would have to be stupid not to know! Plus, my knowledge of the supernatural has really helped out with the Mystery Tours and everything."

"It makes sense," Mabel remarked. "Plus, with Stanley's immense paranormal knowledge and paranoia, he probably educated Will on the subject when he started the job."

"Will?" Dipper asked, unimpressed, an odd notion clicking in his mind.

"It's a nickname I assigned to him," she told him, bounding up the steps and into the Pines residence. "Short for William." Dipper shrugged and followed his twin, the aforementioned blond trailing just slightly behind him.

The front hallway of the home was painted a simple cream color and had pristine creamy tiles to match. There was a shelf with a few trinkets sitting on top of it and several coat hooks directly under the shelf. There was a wooden shoe rack on the wall adjacent to the coats, and a frame hanging directly over it containing the most important achievement of the Pines family aside from his father's promotion – the acceptance of his mother's first book to be published. She was ecstatic enough about the achievement that she went and bought both Mabel and Dipper both new cars – once the book sales garnished enough funds to support the splurge. In a way, it had been both a graduation present and an 18th birthday present.

"We can just go up to my room," Dipper told William distractedly, his eyes scanning the home for traces of Mabel. Safely, he assumed that she was already in her room. "Take your shoes off please, but they can be carried up to my room."

"Not gonna show me around?" the blond asked teasingly, "show me any embarrassing baby pictures?"

He shuddered at the mention of the photos and shook his head, "the tour can wait until before we go tomorrow. You'll probably get to see more than enough of the place while we wait for the moving truck to get here."

"That's how your stuff is going to the Falls?" William asked curiously as he peeled off his shiny black dress shoes. "We'll be going right after it?"

"Mabel will go first," Dipper told him as he did the same, then started off toward the spiral staircase that he and Mabel had loved to slide down when they first moved into the new home. "Show the movers the way, and we'll trail behind to make sure nothing's amiss. It'll be a straight drive to there." He looked back once to make sure the teen was still following him and was slightly relieved when he found that not only was he being followed, his every word was being latched onto with the rapt attention of the blonde.

"This is a _really_ nice house," William repeated when they got to the second floor that he and his sister occupied together. "You sure you're not as rich as Pacifica?"

"Positive," Dipper replied as he walked over to his door and opened it, then walked inside. "We just have some really good connections and a rainy-day fund that my parents never told us about until the day before we went to Grunkle Stan's for the first time ever. It was also the first time we'd ever heard about his existence," he added.

The statement earned a grin from William as he strode into Dipper's room. He whistled lowly, "nice place you've got here."

His room was painted a simple light blue color that matched the color of the cap that he used to wear until it had become too tattered and had to be locked away in his special trunk, where he kept the original Journal 3 and the copies of the first two. His carpet was white, but he tossed a soft black rug over the majority of the carpet once he realized that his parents would be upset if he got it stained, only because it was so new. His bed was in the corner just to the right of the doorway, and his bookshelf rested a few feet away from the footboard, under a flat screen television that was mounted on the wall in the corner. There was a window on the wall right beside his bed, linking his room to Mabel's. The twins often kept it open, only closing it when they needed their privacy for things like getting changed. There was a simple black daybed near his walk-in closet that William was probably going to sleep on for the night.

Dipper nodded in acknowledgement to the statement, walking over to his walk-in and grabbing two sets of nightclothes. He studied one of the pairs intensely for a moment before holding it out to the other teen. It was a light blue set, with darker blue pine trees all over it, a mocking joke that Mabel had once made of his apparent nickname. "We look about the same size, so this should fit. You can change in here, or the bathroom's the door straight across the hall. Might wanna knock though – our parents disabled the locking feature after Mabel nearly overdosed on Smile Dip a year or two ago."

A dark blush crept up his neck as William set the pajamas on his sleeping place for the night and began stripping unabashedly in front of Dipper, a small smirk on his face.

"Okay then," he squeaked, turning around quickly.

William laughed lightly, "what? You're a guy – not like you've never experienced this before, right?"

"Not really," he mumbled in reply. "I wasn't really into sports, so I missed out on the whole athletic deal. Mabel doesn't count."

"Awkward…but, it's safe now. You can turn around."

Dipper did so, just as William finished fumbling with the last few buttons on the nightshirt. "I'll be right back," he mumbled, taking his own pajamas and dashing out of the room, praying that Mabel wasn't in the bathroom.

He'd just held his fist up to knock when the door opened up to reveal his sister in all of her post-shower drippy-haired glory, looking very surprised to see him. "Hi."

"He…" Dipper fumbled over his words, the flush that had just disappeared quickly rising up again. "He undressed. In front of me."

Mabel strode out of the room, grinning wickedly. "Wimp," she murmured not unsympathetically as she passed, ruffling his hair as she did so. "You make it sound like he tried to kiss you or something."

His eyes widened at the thought and his face grew darker in embarrassment. He spun around to catch her and ask the question burning on his lips, but she'd already retreated into her room.

He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door quietly, suddenly relieved to be left alone with his thoughts. "He's not…" he thought aloud as he peeled off his shirt and replaced it with a long nightshirt Mabel had once made for him, a light green with a fully decorated Christmas-themed pine tree on it. "He isn't gay, right? She would've…."

He sighed, "damn it. That's why she was grinning so much earlier, wasn't it?"

He was interrupted by a small knock on the door and the sound of William's voice penetrating the wood. "Are you okay in there? Mabel said something about you not feeling good….she asked me to check on you. Said it was a guy deal or something."

"Fine," he called back in as manly of a voice as he could muster as he stepped out of his slacks, leaving his boxers on and mostly covered by the Pine Tree shirt. "Thanks for the concern though."

 _Damn her,_ he thought viciously as he picked his clothes up and tossed them into the hamper, then opened the door to reveal a worried looking William. _She set that one up on purpose…_

The thought cut off as did most of his air supply when he finally got a good look at William. His scruffy hair that had looked oh-so-perfect at dinner had gotten ruffled, and if that hadn't been enough to makes his insides turn in an out already, it was the teen's dress. Or, his lack thereof.

William was still wearing Dipper's button up nightshirt, but it seemed that he had decided to forego the pants in favor of being in his boxers, much like he was.

The blond leaned against the doorway, his sudden smirk letting Dipper know that he'd been caught staring. "Like the view?" he questioned suggestively.

He stood there for a minute helplessly, his mind too jumbled to form any coherent sentences. "I…" he finally tried, his face growing darker. "I just really don't feel good." It ended in a high pitched squeak and William laughed.

"I'm sure," he told Dipper, grinning in an almost manic fashion. Nonetheless, he moved and Dipper used the opportunity to flee back to his room where he could hide under the covers in peace.

William walked into his room calmly just moments after he did, still chuckling quietly. "I didn't think that you were quite so skittish," he remarked as he settled himself down onto the daybed, snuggling under the few blankets that Mabel had probably left there for him. "It'll make for a fun summer."

"Wonderful," he muttered, his voice muffled from the blankets. He reached up and turned the lights off, closing his eyes in an attempt to shut out the rest of his mind.

 _I'm not gay,_ he told himself firmly. _Mabel just seems to have it in her pointed little head that I am._ It was a lie.

He rolled to his side and turned to face the wall that joined his and Mabel's room, sighing deeply.

A couple of years ago he'd told Mabel about his…conflict with his sudden attraction to guys. There was a reason he peeled away from society after that, aside from the occasional bully. He found that if he stayed away from everyone else, the odd feelings inside of him did too. Mabel accepted it more than anyone else that he'd told about it, and she sympathized with his plight.

 _Now,_ he mused as he slowly drifted off, _it seems that my eccentric twinling is through her sympathy and is trying to set me up with William._

And strangely enough, he didn't completely mind.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wakey wakey!"

The loud voice of William was what woke Dipper the next morning at exactly six o'clock on the dot.

"It's too early for this," he groaned, blearily opening his eyes.

"Moving truck's here at ten," William reminded him, flicking on the lights. Dipper uttered a small shriek and buried his head under his pillow at the sudden intrusion.

"Rise and shine~!" the blonde sang, stealing the covers from over him. "The sun will be out soon and it's gonna be a beautiful day!"

"You ass!" Dipper hissed, turning over so he could glare at him.

He faltered, taking a long look at him. _Damn,_ he thought, his heart beating just a bit quicker and warmth surging through his blood.

William's hair was rumpled from being slept in all night, but it only complemented his outfit more, in an odd way. It was then that Dipper got a good look at his right eye, and _how could he not have noticed the fucking eye patch sooner?_

 _It must have been covered,_ he thought. _To avoid any questions or stares._ He quickly glanced down, hoping that William didn't notice his own staring.

The teen was dressed in a pair of perfectly pressed black slacks that was paired with a white dress shirt and black bowtie. A gold jacket with odd lines etched at the edges of the sleeves, black gloves, and shiny black dress shoes completed the outfit in a way that made Dipper's hormones spike.

Another gear clicked in his mind then, and he realized that he really needed to talk to Mabel about her matchmaking skills.

He trailed his eyes back up to William's and found that the teen was wearing that self-satisfied smirk again, which couldn't be good.

"You seem flustered," he purred and Dipper momentarily recovered from his shock.

"Coffee!" he blurted out, quickly bolting out bed and hurriedly tugging on some jeans, then dashing out the door. Had William _really_ just _purred?_

Much to his great surprise, when he stepped into the kitchen, there was already a streaming cup waiting for him, just the way he liked it. Had William done this?

"Morning Dip-Dip!" his sister exclaimed from behind him. He jumped and looked over his shoulder to see her smile already about a mile wide.

"Morning," he grouched sleepily. "Did you do this?"

"Yup!" He smiled gently then, knowing all the hard work she'd put into it. "Will offered to wake you up."

"Mabes," he hesitated, unsure if he should spoil her good mood so early on. "…There's something weird about him."

He turned around to fully face her, flinching at her crestfallen look. "What do you mean?" Her voice was really quiet and he was already beginning to regret his choice.

He opened his mouth and was about to respond when William's voice rang out from the hallway just before the kitchen. "Later," he muttered to her just as the blond stepped in.

"It's great to see you two awake and looking so refreshed!" he exclaimed, grinning. "Oh, and Mabel, I borrowed some of your Mabel Juice from your pitcher in the fridge. Thought it'd make a nice pick-me-up."

Mabel smiled back at him, though it didn't quite meet her eyes. "That's okay Will, I'm glad to see it worked." She glanced at Dipper, mischief sparking in her expression. "Now all we need is to convert Dip-Dip, and then we can conquer the universe!"

"Not gonna happen," he said flatly, downing the rest of his coffee before heading back upstairs to take a shower. If they seriously thought that they could get away with waking him at _six_ in the _effing morning_ and not be faced with grouchiness, then he'd have to confiscate the Mabel Juice and dump it down the toilet.

He gathered up some clothes to wear for the morning, then walked over to the bathroom and shut the door firmly. He stripped down to nothing, quickly estimating that he had maybe half an hour if he was going to put the last of the things he was going to take to Gravity Falls with him into boxes. For sure, the chest with his journals would be.

As the scalding water cascaded onto his hair and rolled down his back, soothing the ever-sore muscles, he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander to William.

He had a theory, as he did for almost everything in Gravity Falls, about the strange teenager that had shown up in his life yesterday. First to cross over his mind was the guy's style of taste – gold and black, like another being that he knew from the Falls. Second was the nickname Mabel had called him – too close to _Bill_ for comfort.

 _It can't be though,_ he mused as he stepped out of the path of the water, lathering pine scented shampoo into his hair. _No mentions of pain being funny, or the journals. He acted normal around forks and aside from his energy, nothing else is pointing towards him being Bill Cipher. Plus, doesn't the book hint at him being bound to Gravity Falls? How could he leave?_

After his shower was finished, he got dressed into a simple red tee and blue jean jacket paired with blue jeans, then headed to his room to finish with the packing. He was still tired, but grudgingly had to admit that William had been right; the day was being wasted, and the twins were running out of time to finish their packing.

He wasn't too terribly surprised to find that while he'd been gone, William had made up his bed for him and had returned the blankets and pillows that he'd been lent by Mabel. It seemed to be a part of his personality, the too-nice and caring streak. There had also been a few empty boxes set on his bed, and for that he was grateful. The elder teen was currently standing at Dipper's bookshelf, seeming to study the titles on the shelf intently.

He cleared his throat to get the blonde's attention. "I'm ready to start packing now," he said quietly.

"Excellent! So where should we begin?" William asked cheerfully, turning around to face him. "I was thinking with your wardrobe, but then I thought that you might like to leave some here for when you come back. There's a new clothing outlet owned by Pacifica in Gravity Falls, and she said that she made sure to include your style there too."

"I'll take most of it," Dipper said quickly, walking over to his closet and beginning to take a few shirts off of his hangers. He didn't want to make the fact so known yet that he wouldn't be returning to Piedmont for a long time.

He took a few more hangers off the rack and tossed the few shirts already freed onto his bed. William made a small noise of indignation and ran over to the discarded garments and immediately started to caringly fold them. Dipper smirked.

"I didn't think you were so touchy," he commented, tossing a few more garments over. "They're just clothes."

"They're not!" William exclaimed, clearly offended by his statement. "Your clothes make you who you are, and Pacifica always says that you should take good care of them. Besides, you'll want them to look nice if you're going to impress that redhead."

He almost choked on air at that, and spun around to face the blond. "What part of 'over it' didn't you understand? And since when are you _Pacifica's_ bitch? I didn't think the two of you would get along."

"We don't," William grumbled, his good mood finally showing some normal sense of fluctuation. "She just has a point about clothes and fashion."

"Right," Dipper muttered, turning back to his task. "And you're some kind of a secretly flying dorito in a human's body." He glanced back out of the corner of his eye to see if it would get some kind of stir out of the teen like the clothing comment had, but he hadn't seemed fazed. Maybe he was human after all, and the similarities were just some sort of coincidence.

"They don't exist," William clarified after a long pause of silence. "The journals never said anything about flying doritos. It mentioned floating eyeballs though, if that's what you're thinking of."

 _He's looked at the journals,_ he thought, filing the information away in his mind. _It implies some trust between Stanley and William, and Stanley doesn't trust_ anyone.

The sun was steadily rising by the time they'd finished packing his room – Dipper taking clothes out of the closet and throwing them behind him once they were off their respective hangers, and William folding said clothes and neatly placing them in the box. It was full by the time they finished.

"You own less than I thought," William remarked as he closed the box and taped it. "I swear, Mabel has five times as much as you do."

"She's also the best friend of Pacifica and makes her own sweaters," he countered, walking over to his chest and pulling out the key that rested on a chain from under his shirt. "I don't really care much for fashion."

"What's in there?" William asked, his attention diverted to the chest.

 _Bad idea,_ Dipper thought, stowing the key away again. "Just some old childhood memories of mine."

"They've gotta be bad if they're under lock and key." Suddenly William's teasing voice was way too close for comfort and he could feel his face heating up. "What dirty little secrets are you hiding, hmm?"

"Nothing!" he squeaked out, glancing at William. Big mistake.

The teen's face was only a few inches away from his and it was almost impossible to miss the slightly predatory and very triumphant smirk that ghosted across his lips, or the gleam of hunger radiating in his electric blue eye.

Dipper's own eyes widened and he stared transfixed for a moment before coming to his senses and backing away quickly. _Yes,_ he decided firmly, standing and averting his gaze to the ground. _Mabel's gonna hear it later._

As for William….the sooner Dipper got to Oregon and some distance from him….the better it would be for everyone. The blond was laughing quietly to himself and moving about the room, picking up the occasional book and reading the back of the cover in interest. Dipper didn't quite know _what_ to make of him…one second he was perfectly as normal as was possible for him (as far as Dipper had seen), and the next, he had changed into….whatever he was, and got way too close to him for his comfort. The guy was a mystery, one that Dipper knew would quickly backfire against him if he tried to solve him.

A quick glance at his watch told him that it was nearing eight-thirty and that he'd have to get a move on, at least in the case of helping Mabel pack. His room was simple because he'd taken a lot of his things with him to Gravity Falls the previous summer, when the conflict had first started between him and his parents. Mabel on the other hand….she was going to college in a different state and likely wasn't going to return home for a while either. Not until she graduated, at least. Everything that she owned was going.

He sat on his bed and moved over to the window, rapping on it a couple of times. There wasn't an immediate answer, but it was probably because Mabel had her headphones in or something.

"Can you get her attention for me?" he grudgingly asked William, looking at him over his shoulder. "I need to know if she needs help packing."

"Why not just go over there and ask?" the blond fired back pointedly.

He scowled, knowing that the elder teen had a good point. "You don't seem to have a problem with undressing in front of others," he said through gritted teeth. "So it won't mean anything to you if she's indecent." He thought for a moment, then decided that he didn't like the mental image that projected.

"…On second thought, I'll do it myself."

He got up and walked over to Mabel's room, irritation having long settled in his expression. Instead of knocking on the door like he normally would've, he just opened it and strode right in.

He had been right about the headphones. Mabel was sitting on the floor beside her bed in what Dipper deemed as the only clear spot in the room, flipping through what looked like a scrapbook absentmindedly. The rest of her room was completely covered in clothes and the rare book or two.

She finally looked up and gave him a wide smile. "Look, Dipper!" she exclaimed, holding it out to him. "It's the scrapbook from our first summer with Grunkle Stan!"

He walked over and gently took the book from her, opening it up and leafing through the pages just as slowly as she had. They were filled with doodles, glitter, and an array of stickers, as well as the odd memorabilia from Gravity Falls. There were photos of weird things that he had found, and a page dedicated entirely to the relationship of Waddles and Mabel, which earned a small laugh from him. There was even the page that held his very first chest hair, and the CD from Babba was taped onto the page beside it.

"Those were the good days," he found himself reminiscing quietly. "Back before life got so complicated." He settled down beside his sister, flipping the page to another favorite of hers, the one of all the animals affected by the anomaly of the stones in the woods that caused them to either grow or shrink, depending on the light's color. It featured a photo of a tiny bobcat resting in the palm of her hand, and another of a giant butterfly that had almost killed them after the flash had gone off.

She looked at him, "it won't be that hard Bro-Bro. We'll just have to video chat every night when we're in college and stuff, like Soos and Melody used to before they got married."

He sighed, "Mabel…"

"Knock knock!" His mother said cheerfully, opening the door and poking her head in. She uttered a small gasp at the sight of Mabel's room. "You're not done packing yet? Sweetie, the truck's going to be here in an hour!"

"Well shit," Mabel murmured, standing up. "Can you ask William to come in here and help us pack? He seemed to work so well with Dipper earlier…he's already done!"

He didn't bother to tell her that there hadn't been much _to_ pack, and instead opted to grab a box, shove some clothes over, and put it on the newly cleared ground. "Us? Mabel, I'm not gonna help you pack."

"You already are," she sing-songed, kissing their mother on the cheek and skipping out of the room.

"Get it done," his mom told him wearily before retreating back downstairs. He sighed in response and began pushing her clothes into piles to be sorted through and folded – that part, he was sure William was going to do.

Sure enough, the teen let out an almost unearthly shriek the second he saw the clothes and immediately ran over to the center of the Mabel-caused destruction. His sister appeared in the doorway, grinning smugly.

"Knew he'd do it," she commented.

Dipper sighed, picking up one of his sister's sweaters. "Come on Mabes. Much as I want to, we can't leave the whole job to him."

The three teens sorted through Mabel's mess as quickly as they could, filling three boxes and taking them downstairs in what was a record speed in Dipper's opinion - forty-five minutes. By the time they were finished, a lemonade break was warranted and Dipper had the urge to take another shower.

 _As if it'll take off all the glitter,_ he thought, pulling his shirt off his chest in an attempt to soothe the heated skin.

"Everything else is packed and ready to go?" their dad asked the second Mabel's foot hit the bottom step for the last time.

She nodded, "yup! It's a good thing Dipper didn't need more than a couple of boxes!"

Their dad set a hand gently on her hair and ruffled it affectionately. "I'll miss you kiddo. Just remember to call home once in a while and visit when you get the chance, okay?"

"I will," she promised, holding out a pinky.

"Have you set an enrollment date for Harvard yet?"

Dipper groaned mentally as the attention of his father was turned on him. The man had good intentions….but he really needed to give it a rest. "Not yet," he muttered. "I will, okay?"

"What'cha gonna study there?" William piped up as he contently sipped on a glass of cold, refreshing lemonade.

"Business," he answered shortly. _If I go, which I won't._

"That doesn't sound like fun," the blond remarked. "Why not study something else?"

"Like me?" Mabel piped up. "I'm going to school for fashion design!"

"Business is practical," he deadpanned. "Mabel just gets to do the fun stuff because she has talent."

"Moving truck's here," their mom called from the porch, where she'd been anxiously waiting for the past five minutes. "Mabel, sweetie, go ahead and get your car started. The boys will get the stuff into the van."

"Okay!" Mabel called back, grabbing her keys and purse from the kitchen counter and dashing out the door.

Dipper sighed in resignation. "Guess we better get started then," he muttered to William, taking a final gulp of his lemonade.

Luckily for him, William didn't say anything and they got to work. Packing up the truck was a relatively easy job and took only about half an hour for them to complete. While Dipper and William worked, Mabel leaned against her bright pink car and sang along to the music that blared from her speakers. In any other case Dipper would have glared at her, but it made him smile to see her so carefree and full of life.

Mabel was going to have a great time in college, that much he knew. He, on the other hand….he was going to stick around in Gravity Falls and eventually run the Shack, for better or worse. Mabel didn't know about his plan yet, and he wasn't too sure that he even wanted to tell her. She wanted for him to be happy, but last summer she had agreed with Wendy – enough was enough.

He was becoming too obsessed, she'd pointed out as she went to bed the night before they'd returned to Piedmont for the last time. He was barely eating, and sleep had practically become a foreign object to him. She'd loved the mystery too…but it was coming to a point where it was too dangerous to his health to continue.

"Dipper!" Mabel's voice rang through his ears, both bringing him out of his thinking and giving him a major headache. He glanced at her and saw a small frown on her face, her eyes trying to catch his. _Probably worried about me already getting caught up with the town's mystery._

He grinned for her sake, "I was thinking…tonight sounds like a perfect night for some Attic Golf and a movie marathon."

It got the reaction that he had hoped for out of her, and she gasped in delight. "With ice cream and popcorn and candy? Can I invite Paz?"

He nodded, and she hugged him tightly. "Thank you!" she squealed in his ear. "The truck is ready, so I'm leaving now Dip-Dip. Bye!"

He had barely any time to lift a hand in goodbye before she was in her car and slowly pulling out of the driveway, heading down the road leisurely so the moving truck could follow.

"That's that, then," William decided, sitting down on the front step of the porch after inspecting it for a solid minute. "Should we get going?"

"Not so fast, Dipper," his father said quietly, stepping forward from his spot beside the door. "Your mother didn't want us having this conversation while your sister was around, so we'll have it now."

He looked down at the ground, knowing exactly what his father was referencing. "Have at, then," he said weakly.

"I don't think going to visit your uncle and grandfather this summer is a good idea," his dad started. "You should be spending your time focusing on college and looking into internships to take for the summer. Not learning how to run some tourist trap in the middle of nowhere."

Dipper looked up angrily, and was sorry for a moment that William would have to witness this. "The Shack isn't that bad. You might know that if you ever went down there for a visit. It's learning how to run a business, which is what you want me to go to college to study."

"Being down there has made you weird," his father continued talking as if he hadn't heard. "You spend all your time researching the 'paranormal' instead of going outside and socializing with others your age." Dipper opened his mouth to make a sharp retort, but didn't get the chance. "I thought that going to stay with your uncle that first summer would force some kind of manliness into you, but instead you came home more withdrawn than before. If that wasn't enough," He turned to look at him with disappointment drawn across his features, "you started liking _boys_. Don't think I haven't noticed your restlessness around them when we go out into public, Dipper. At one point I thought that I could help mold you into a strong young man. I was wrong, it seems. You're a hopeless case."

It was the definitive blow, enough to make Dipper flinch and close his eyes to keep from crying. The subject of his mixed sexual preferences had never really been acknowledged for the sake of not causing any trouble, but now that he was leaving…it didn't matter anymore.

There was a light pressure on his shoulder and he looked up with watery eyes to find William looking down at him with sympathy in his eye, and his jaw clenched in what he assumed was anger.

"You're wrong," Dipper finally voiced, looking at his father and letting the tears slip down his cheeks. It didn't matter if his father saw him cry, if he thought that he was weak. "Gravity Falls turned me into a stronger person than you can ever know, and…" his voice cracked as his gaze shifted from his father to his mom, who had stood by the whole time with sorrow in her expression. For god's sake, why didn't she _do_ something?

"I'm not going to Harvard," he finally spat, turning a glare towards his dad. "I'm not going to go to college at all, actually. And I'm not coming back."

He turned and set off toward the car, William following silently. His mother cried for him to wait, but he didn't. He could've apologized for leaving on such a harsh note, but he wasn't so sure that he would mean it.

He got into the car, not saying a word to William as the other followed suit. After taking a moment for the car to adjust to running and for him to wipe at his eyes hastily, he backed out of the driveway and peeled down the road as fast as was legally allowed, not looking back once.

They were well behind schedule by the time they finally made it to the interstate, but it didn't deter him. Mabel would wait up for him to arrive in the worst case scenario, and the long drive would allow him to get his mind off of the disaster of a goodbye he'd just shared with his parents.

"I'm sorry you had to witness all that," he finally told William quietly, after about an hour. He was surprised that the other had stayed silent for so long, but appreciated it.

"I'm sorry they said all that to you," the blonde's response was even. "What kind of parents are they, putting you down like that?"

"They care about me," he said quickly. "I know they do…it's just a tough love sort of deal. Dad's just so harsh because he wants what's best for me."

"He's not harsh on your sister like that," William noted, and Dipper caught his serious gaze when he glanced over. "It seems like they favor her. Your father even said, he didn't want to say those things in front of her."

"He doesn't want to break her happiness," he mumbled, focusing his gaze back onto the road. "It's okay, because I don't want him to."

"You cried," William said flatly. "It's messed up that your father is okay with making you cry."

"He was right though – Gravity Falls did this to me."

"It doesn't matter," William's voice was suddenly harsh and there was a gentle tug on his heart from it. "You're Dipper Pines, marvelous teen mystery hunter! You're an awesome person Pi- Dipper, and they should acknowledge that."

The car grew silent as William silently fumed and Dipper processed what the blond had just said. Or, rather, what he'd almost said. _Pine Tree. He almost called me Pine Tree, I'm sure of it._ He tapped his finger on the steering wheel absentmindedly. _Can it really be him? I thought the book said he couldn't leave the Falls...should I say something? But what if I'm wrong?_ He glanced at the other out of the corner of his eye. _If I'm not...What's his purpose? Why is he here?_ His eyes shifted back onto the road. _Keep silent for now. You don't know anything for certain._

"Thank you," he finally said softly. "My parents aren't going to change their opinions about Gravity Falls though, and they definitely won't accept the way I choose to go about my life anytime soon."

"Then that makes them idiots," came his quiet reply. "For not looking past your choices and seeing the person you are underneath all that. And besides, nobody deserves to be alone in their darkest hour."

Silence returned, and another hour passed before Dipper noticed that his gas gauge was finally beginning to tick towards the empty line, and he finally had to pull into a small rest stop.

"You hungry?" he asked William, shooting him a small glance.

The blond was fast asleep, snoring lightly. It made him smile and chuckle quietly. If he really was Bill Cipher…some being of endless energy he was!

He walked into the convenient store, looking around in interest. The usual array of snacks were sprawled out everywhere, but this was a sensitive deal.

"Let's go off the theory that William really is Bill," he muttered quietly to himself, studying a line of snacks. "What food would he want to eat most?"

His eyes landed on an all-too-familiar bag of chips and he grinned wickedly as he picked it up. "Gotcha," he whispered to it triumphantly. "If this doesn't make him reveal himself, nothing will."

He selected some twizzlers and a bottle of Pepsi for himself, then mused on what 'William' would want to drink. "Pitt cola. He couldn't get enough of the stuff when he was in my body…"

He took the snacks up to the counter, adding thirty onto the bill for the gas. "Have a good night," he called back cheerfully to the cashier as he exited.

William was blearily rubbing his eyes when Dipper got back to the car. "Where'd you go?" he mumbled sleepily. "I had to wonder if you hadn't gotten kidnapped by aliens or something."

Dipper sat down, tossing the bag over into the teen's lap. "Snack time," he replied easily, taking one of the twizzlers out of the bag and chewing on the end of it. "I wasn't too sure what to get you, so I went with a gut feeling."

"Pitt cola!" William exclaimed, taking the can out of the bag first and popping it open. "My favorite!" He took a quick gulp, then set it down into the cupholder to see what else he'd been gifted with.

"…Doritos," the blonde finally muttered, his expression growing sour. Dipper grinned triumphantly.

"Do you not like them?" he asked innocently, holding out a twizzler to him.

"Bad experience with these," William replied as he took the twizzler, plastering a wide smile onto his face. "Oh well. It never hurts to give anything a second chance!" He opened the bag and popped a chip into his mouth and Dipper sighed in resignation.

Their trip resumed as the sun began to set. The last couple of hours went by at a steady pace, filled in by talks of what had happened in Gravity Falls since Dipper and Mabel's last visit and how much the mystery shack had changed in their absence.

Finally, _finally_ after a year of waiting, Dipper turned off of the highway and onto the back road that would lead him to Gravity Falls and the Mystery Shack. To a lifetime of secrets and mystery.

And when he finally pulled into _his_ spot beside Grunkle Stan's car and stepped out, the wind seemed to whisper his name as the breeze picked up. A smile stretched across his face as he took in the newly-renovated and surprisingly-larger Mystery Shack and the surrounding forest.

He was back.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dipper!" Mabel's voice came from just inside the shack, alerting him that he likely had only seconds before he was bombarded with a hug. "What took you so long?"

As he predicted, she latched onto him and didn't let go for a solid minute. "There was a small holdup at home," he told her, gently prying her arms from his midsection. "Just some last minute things that needed to get cleared up."

"Dad called," she finally said awkwardly, averting her gaze. "He yelled a lot at Grunkle Stan…I heard what really happened."

"I'm fine," he said automatically, knowing that if he didn't assert it then, that she would fuss over him the whole night. "I saw it coming from a mile away."

"Hey Mabel!" William called out cheerfully, thankfully changing the topic for the both of them. "Did you already do all of the unpacking?"

She shook her head, a small smile crossing over her lips. "Our boxes just got put into our room and the rest of my furniture is in the storage room. Grandpa helped."

"Thanks," Dipper murmured. "Paz here yet?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "yup! Sorry, but we started Attic Stuff Golf without you."

"Dipper!" A new voice joined the mix as Pacifica Northwest ran outside to meet them, a golf club in tow. "It's great to see you again!" She threw her arms around him and he returned the action for a brief moment before pulling away and letting go.

"It's great to see you too," he replied honestly. "How'd your parents take the news?"

She rolled her eyes, "as well as can be expected from them. They just dismissed it as usual…but that doesn't matter. In a few months Mabel and I are going to Los Angeles and they won't be able to have any say in it!" She looked around and finally noticed William. "Hey Will," she called out, giving him a small wave. He raised a hand in greeting, but didn't say anything.

"Hey guys," Dipper yawned, rubbing his eyes, "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll call it a night." The sudden change in state startled him, but he shrugged it off. Maybe getting up as early as he did and getting to the shack so late had a bigger effect on him than he had thought.

 _Or maybe it's Bill,_ a small voice in his mind whispered to him mockingly. _Calling you to the mindscape._

He thought about the possibility of Bill meddling with his brain, and shook his head slightly. _Can't be. I'd feel his presence around…the world would be grey, and he would have revealed himself by now. I'm just tired._

He mumbled a short goodnight to the others, relieved when Mabel told him that she'd be there in a few minutes to talk to him. He gave her a nod in acknowledgement and retreated into the house.

"Hey Dipper," Stanley greeted, coming over to the lanky teen and giving him a hug. "It's great to see you again."

"I saw you yesterday," he chuckled, hugging his grandfather back. "But it's good to see you too. The drive wore me out, so I'm gonna go to bed early. Where's Grunkle Stan?"

"Working downstairs," Stanley replied right away. "He said that you're welcome to join him if you're feeling up to it."

"I'll skip for now," he murmured, heading up the stairs. "Tell him I said hi. And goodnight."

He headed up the stairs, suddenly grateful for the relief that sleep would bring. It had been a long day, and it would allow him to recharge and get a handle on the fact that he wasn't leaving the Shack at the summer.

Boxes were scattered all over his and Mabel's shared room, and the Attic Stuff Golf course was still set up. He grabbed his nightshirt from inside his bag and tugged it on, then stripped out of his jeans and flopped down onto his bed. He was _so tired_ and sleep sounded like an equivalent to heaven at this point.

 _Stay awake,_ he reminded himself, sitting up and wrapping a dark, thin blue blanket around himself. Mabel might have been cool with a lot, but he was positive that she was still squeamish about him sleeping in his underwear. _Just for another minute._

Mabel didn't disappoint and it wasn't a few seconds more before he heard her light footsteps coming down the hall.

"I'm here Bro Bro," she called, knocking on the door. "So you had better be decent!"

"It's safe to enter," he called back wearily. She did so tentatively, and he was relieved that she was being so attentive about his state of sleepiness.

"What did you want to tell me earlier?" she prompted gently, sitting across from him on her own bed. "About Will?"

He rubbed at his eyes again, sleep still threatening to take over. "He's weird," he murmured, laying back. "I think it's Bill."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Mabel replied uneasily after a moment. "Dipper, he can't be Bill. That isosceles monster is trapped here, so there's no way that he could have gotten to Piedmont."

"He could have possessed someone," he ground out, closing his eyes lightly. "Maybe possessed bodies are his way out."

"There's that possibility," his twin mused thoughtfully, and he was reminded once more of how sweet she was, that she listened to him without judging. "But I found the error in that one too Dip-Dip – he's staying and working here. Stanley has a Cipher-radar practically built into his brain, and he'd know for sure if it was him."

"I know," he groused sleepily. "His name…too much of a fucking coincidence Mabel….Will? _Bill._ And have you seen that guy's clothes? Black and gold. The only thing missing is the top hat."

"And the cane," she reminded him gently. "You can't forget that dumb gold cane of his."

"I don't like him," he finally admitted. "He…" Dipper sighed as he realized that even though Mabel knew about his…conflict, he didn't want her quite knowing how badly William affected him.

"Today's been rough," he muttered after a long pause of silence. "And dad _-_ " his voice cracked slightly on the word, and _god,_ how he hated it – "didn't help at all."

"I'm sorry," Mabel's voice was suddenly too quiet and he knew that she was on the verge of tears. "I should have been there."

"He didn't want you there," he hissed out. She inhaled sharply, and he immediately felt guilty for upsetting her.

"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, sitting up. "That was-"

A second passed and then she was sitting on his lap, hugging him tightly and crying. "You're right," she sobbed, nails digging into his back slightly. "Dipper, he shouldn't have… _attacked_ you like that, all alone. A-and saying that it was wrong for you to be gay…"

It was the second time the subject had ever been brought up between them and for her to mention it so openly…it was bad. He closed his eyes and finally allowed himself to cry too, because his father's words had done this to them.

It seemed like several minutes before either of them calmed down enough to speak again, but even then, they didn't. Dipper shifted under his sister's weight because it was slightly uncomfortable, and finally he just gave up and laid back, taking her with him.

"I'm so sorry Mabes," he whispered softly into her hair, stroking it gently. "I didn't want this to break you…"

"I didn't want it to break you either though," she breathed back, shifting and rolling off of him. "Sorry," she apologized, her face turning pink in embarrassment. "That was kinda awkward."

He chuckled quietly, because of _course_ she would be the one to break the gloomy mood with a statement like that. "It's fine," he replied hoarsely. "The comfort was kind of nice…we haven't done something like that since we were kids."

"Dipper…" she hesitated for a moment before continuing. "…What are you going to do? About dad and everything? Grunkle and Grandpa are okay with your…preferences and they accept it, but what about everything else?"

"I need to talk to them about that actually," he admitted. "I…I told dad that I'm not going to college. I think I want to stay here, Mabel."

"I'm not stopping you," she voiced softly, though he knew it also served as a reprimand. "But be _careful_ Dipper. I know what this town does to you…the mystery consumes you every summer and it feels like you're slipping. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't. Promise." He held out his pinky, and she linked her own with his. "I'll be more careful. Besides – I have all the time in the world to work on the mysteries of this town. Stanley said a few weeks ago that if I can dedicate myself and work out the few kinks here and there, he'll even let me professionally publish the journals."

"Dipper, that's great!" his twin whispered, a spark of enthusiasm finally lighting in her eyes again. "It'll show mom and dad that you were telling the truth the whole time!"

"Or they'll think I'm crazier," he sighed. "But I'm invested in this at all costs, for better or worse. Grunkle Stan said that in about a year, he and Stanley might go into retirement and let me have the shack permanently. Maybe with the publication of the journals, I can take people on real mystery tours!"

"No camera crews," Mabel asserted fiercely, an odd determination in her eyes. "And I want you to ask every creature's permission before including them in."

"You've never been so caring about them before," he remarked, slightly startled.

"They might be hidden for a reason Dip-Dip," she replied. "I don't want them to feel like they're some sort of zoo creatures…I want them to feel right at home. It means no golf cart either!"

He laughed lightly. "You know, if fashion doesn't work out for you, I think I'd like you to be my co-manager."

"Not gonna happen," she teased, sitting up and stretching. "We need new beds Dippingsauce, this is getting way too uncomfortable!"

"Next week," he muttered. "Once our final paychecks get deposited into our bank accounts. Then….then we can drive out to Portland and get the biggest, comfiest beds you can possibly come up with."

"On second thought, that might not be a good idea," she mused. "You might be promoted in a year, and this room is too tiny for bigger beds. Maybe just some better mattresses that don't feel like pins and needles."

"That's an even better idea," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

There was a light pressure as Mabel kissed his forehead gently, and another as she scrambled off the bed in a less-than-graceful fashion. "Good night Bro Bro," she whispered as she exited.

* * *

Dipper awoke with a startled gasp to the sound of a crash and automatically noticed that the world around him was in varying shades of black and white. He was in the Mindscape.

"Bill!" he called out, scrambling to his feet. He took another look around and noticed that he was outside of the Mystery Shack. "Where the fuck are you?!"

"My, such harsh words Pine Tree! And to think, I made sure to be the first one to give you a proper homecoming!" Dipper looked around frantically, unable to find the source of the voice. All of a sudden he felt a pressure and was forcefully pushed back, landing with a small grunt of pain.

Not a millisecond passed before Bill Cipher was hovering above him with a look that was a mix between his usual amusement and an anger that Dipper could feel in every bone. The demon pressed his cane harder into his chest, and he was pretty sure that a rib had just cracked from the pressure.

"You should apologize for such rude behavior!" Bill was the slightest shade of pink, a warning of what was to come if he didn't hurry and comply.

"Sorry," Dipper spat out, not meaning it in the slightest. "Now tell me, what the hell do you want?"

"Tsk tsk Piney!" The cane dug deeper into his skin and he gasped from the pain it caused. "You just never learn!"

"Please!" he rasped, tears rolling down his cheeks. "S-stop!"

"That's more like it," Cipher purred, bringing a foot down to rest heavily on his throat, cutting off most of his air supply. The pressure of the cane eased up slightly, but the demon's foot more than made up for the loss. "Now, be a good Pine Tree and beg for mercy."

He twisted his face into a snarl and was ready to make a snappy retort when his body suddenly spasmed and he coughed up blood, peppering the grey ground with bright flecks of scarlet.

"Time's running out," Bill snarked triumphantly, his eye becoming a clock. "Unless you want to die in the next couple of minutes, I suggest you get started."

"P-please-" he whimpered softly, the corners of his vision turning white. "R-release me."

"Not good enough," Cipher taunted and he would have screamed in frustration if he were able.

"W-what more do you want from me?" he cried out, knowing fully that the question was loaded.

If the floating triangle above him had a mouth, Dipper swore up and down that he would've grinned if he could. Bill reached out a flaming blue hand toward him. "You really want to make a deal? I'm flattered, I really am – after all, it's our first day reunited and you already want to sell me your soul!"

"Piss off," Dipper ground out, more flecks of scarlet peppering onto the ground.

"Your situation's not looking too good. Tick tock, tick tock."

"I'm not giving you my soul!"

"How about this then," Bill's foot lifted from his throat and he gratefully inhaled, then immediately coughed out more blood. "You see Pine Tree, my lovely little cane here actually _did_ crack one of your precious little ribs, and it punctured your lung. So here - I'll fix up your nice little internal bleeding thing we got going here and take my cane off of your chest out of the goodness of my little heart." Dipper made a small noise of disbelief over that, but the demon ignored it and pressed on. "I'll even toss in a wonderful little answer to any question you ask for free!"

"W-what do you get out of this?" he whispered, his voice growing weaker. He coughed again.

"In return-" Bill paused for a moment for dramatic effect. "I get to mark any part of your body that I want."

"Why?" The question slipped out before he had a chance to think straight and the dream demon cackled and forcefully grabbed his hand. Blue fire wrapped around his wrist and shot up his arm, and an unearthly shriek ripped from his throat.

It was a solid minute or two before the burning sensation and the blue flames faded. Bill did as he promised and removed the cane from his chest. With a snap of his fingers, Dipper could breathe normally again.

"I'll take that as your question," Bill chirped cheerfully, twirling his cane around while Dipper rubbed at his throat and breathed deeply. "You see Piney, I'm not the only creature here in Gravity Falls that's taken an interest in you – no more questions!" he snapped as Dipper opened his mouth curiously.

Dipper nodded meekly, and Bill continued. "I might be an omnipotent being with eternal energy and no weaknesses, but it's a tough business that I run around here, and the competition is fierce because we're all limited to this town. Therefore, I feel the need to mark you as my property before any of the others get the chance to."

"W-where are you going to mark me?"

The question prompted another cackle from the demon. "It's hilarious how stupid you are! The mark's already there – check your neck when you wake up!" Bill blinked his eye slowly at him, and he knew that it was a wink. "A fun fact about your mark – I can use it to communicate with you wherever you are, whenever I want to! In a way, it binds our minds!"

"Wait!" Naturally, he panicked. "Y-you're not going to possess me or anything, right?!"

Bill scoffed, "so stupid. I said I would communicate with you, not take over!"

"Bind our minds," Dipper corrected angrily. "That sounds like possession to me!"

"It's not, so calm down." Bill's eye narrowed, the pink returning. "I believe that I've allotted you way more questions than we agreed to, Pine Tree."

A moment passed in silence, then he was back to normal. "Either way," the demon stressed, forcing the happiness back into his voice. "Welcome to the rest of your life Piney!"

"You're an ass," he growled. "And I hate you."

Bill sighed dramatically, "I really didn't want to do this to you on your first night back Pine Tree, but you asked for it."

And suddenly, he was falling into an endless black void, where desperate shrieks of his name echoed all around him. A flash, and he could see animal heads mounted onto a wall, chanting what sounded like a curse in an ancient language, blood flowing from their mouths.

It was dark again, and then another flash. Mabel's body, horrendously mutilated beyond repair. A sickening crunch, and her head lifted to face him. She stared at him with bloody sockets where her eyes used to be, then she spoke. "You're a hopeless cause," she hissed, blood pouring from her mouth. "A freak! Look at you, attracted to _men_ of all things. You make me sick."

Darkness again, and he was alone. Finally, he landed in some sort of body of liquid that was too thick to be water. A flash, illuminating the sea of blood around him, islands of the bodies of faces he knew and loved floating around. He screamed shrilly, and didn't stop until his body grew weak and he went under.

"Dipper!" Mabel's voice screamed, intermingling with his own. His eyes shot open and he flailed in the dark in an attempt to escape the blankets that were ensnaring him. His skin _burned_ and his heart beat rapidly in his chest.

He looked up and noticed that it wasn't just Mabel there, it was Stanley and their Grunkle, and _god, no_. William stood in the doorway with them, looking just as worried as the others.

"Bill," he stuttered, hyperventilating. "H-he's back."

"I sense him near," Stanley muttered tersely. He knelt down on the floor beside Dipper's bed, allowing William to take a few steps forward in his place. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"H-he-" Dipper blanched then, and Grunkle Stan grabbed the nearest trash can and held it out to him wordlessly. "He-he _m-marked_ me. M-my neck. _It burns."_

Stanley took his head gently in his hands and turned it slowly, so as not to freak him out. "Flashlight," he ordered gruffly. Within a moment, he had one provided by William. The three of them gasped, filling Dipper's heart with dread. Was it that bad?

 _Certainly not good Piney,_ Bill's smug voice resounded in his head. _I tried to tell you that I didn't want to do this the hard way. Maybe next time, you'll know better._ He blanched again from hearing the voice, and dark red peppered the inside of the trash can.

Mabel gasped. "You're bleeding!"

"No…" he breathed out, his eyes wide with horror. "N-no! He fi-fixed it! I swear he did!"

 _Side effect. Just because your body isn't bleeding anymore, doesn't mean there isn't any residual blood with nowhere to go._

"He?" Grunkle Stan questioned lowly, his tone borderline homicidal.

"B-Bill…" Dipper whispered, almost afraid to voice the demon's name. "I…was going to die. He forced me to let him mark me, in exchange for being allowed to live."

"What does it look like?" he finally asked meekly after nobody said anything for a minute. "The mark?"

"Triangle," Mabel supplied, her voice barely above a murmur from shock. "It looks just like him. It's in the center of his summoning circle."

Grunkle Stan looked back at William, his expression unchanging. "Downstairs," he told the blond shortly. " _Now."_

William nodded and quickly complied, Grunkle Stan following him. Dipper opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted before he could get a word in by a small white pill being shoved into his mouth.

"Swallow," Stanley commanded, forcing his mouth shut. He obediently did so as best as he could.

"What was that?" he asked the second his grandfather's hand released.

"Sleeping pill. It'll keep you from dreaming, and will therefore keep you out of the mindscape."

"What was that about?" Mabel questioned, gesturing to the doorway that Grunkle Stan and William had disappeared through.

"Cipher is a….topic of interest to William," Stanley said hesitantly. "He's studied a lot of runes and stuff and dabbles in the art of magic, so he might be able to tell us something about that tattoo on your neck."

"Can it be removed?" he asked in small voice, his fingers moving up to lightly trace the skin. A burning sensation filled him, but was quickly replaced with… _pleasure?_ He gasped, quickly putting his hand back down.

"Likely not, if your deal is what caused it," Stanley replied gravely. "There is another idea though."

"What is it?" he demanded eagerly, almost getting up to stand.

"You could mark your body up some more and get a tattoo of protection, like what Stanford has. It'll get you some weird looks from people if you put it in a viewable area, but that might be your kind of thing. Especially if you plan on running this dump eventually – it'll give the tourists more appeal."

"No more tattoos," he said flatly. "I'll be happy enough to get the one off my neck, thank you very much."

"It's something to consider," Stanley told him gently, laying a hand on his hair and ruffling it. "Now, go to sleep. You won't see him anymore."

He left, and Dipper laid back down, coughing more blood onto his blanket. He rolled over to look at the time and saw that it was nearing two in the morning.

"Are you really okay, Dipper?" Mabel asked, sitting gently on the bed beside him. She glanced back at the door. "Grunkle Stan seemed mad, even when he was looking at William. You could be right."

"No," he breathed out shakily. "I was _so_ _wrong_ , Mabel. It's just a coincidence, it has to be. There's no possible way in hell that it's Cipher. William's too good to be."

"Okay," she whispered softly. "Let's go back to bed Bro Bro."

He shut his eyes wearily, the sleeping pill beginning to take its effect on him. "Good…night, Mabel."

* * *

The sun was shining into his room cheerfully when he awoke next, and it was only too easy to forget about the dream last night and his encounter with Cipher. Mabel was already gone, probably to catch up with Pacifica at the golf course.

Then suddenly his neck burned and he cried out, arching his back in pain. _They kept me from seeing you,_ Bill's voice echoed angrily in his mind. _Never take that pill again Pine Tree._

"You…can't stop me." He ground out, placing his palm flat against the tattoo in an effort to cease the pain. It worsened significantly and a small shriek ripped from his lips as his vision went momentarily dark. More shocking still was the ribbons of pleasure interweaving with the pain, creating a whole new sensation.

"Wh-what did you do to me?" he gasped out, forcing his hand away from his skin. The pleasure disappeared, leaving only the pain to burn against his skin.

 _Be an obedient Pine Tree today,_ Bill threatened lowly. _I will see you tonight, and you_ will _be cordial, or else you're going to get way worse than a nightmare or burning tattoo._

"Please," he begged, tears leaking from his eyes. "M-make it stop."

He sighed in relief as Bill granted his wish, then he flopped back onto his bed and promptly curled himself into a ball, crying silently. How pathetic he was, to cry over something that didn't exist.

 _But I do, Pine Tree,_ Cipher whispered into his mind. _In both body and spirit. Soon, you'll give in to me._

"Dipper!" William's voice called out from right outside the doorway. "I'm coming in here, okay?"

"How convenient for you," he ground out. "Tonight, I'm going to find out your plan. And there's nothing-"

The door opened then and William came in, more underdressed than Dipper had ever seen him be in the daytime. Instead of the usual black slacks and dress shirt, he was wearing a pair of simple black shorts and a yellow tee with a black question mark on it.

"Are you okay? Any more nightmares last night?"

"How'd you-"

"Kid, I know what waking up from a nightmare looks like. You had terror written all over your face. How's that tattoo of yours feeling?"

"It was burning a minute ago," Dipper admitted, sitting up. "Cipher can do that at will it seems like, whenever he thinks I deserve punishment."

"There's an interesting take on things," William hummed thoughtfully. "Can I touch it? Do you mind?"

"Yes," he said immediately, without thinking. "I do mind. C-Cipher does too. He doesn't like the contact on it."

William held his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay. Sheesh, you're a tough crowd kid."

"Why are you calling me that?" he asked, annoyed. "That sounds like something Cipher would call me."

"I thought it was cute," William defended. "Sorry. I won't do it anymore."

"There's nothing cute about being called a kid," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's demeaning and offensive."

"You're right," William soothed. "I'll just call you Dipper, then. Or would you prefer your real name?"

"Dipper's fine," he murmured. "Have you found anything out about the tattoo?"

The blonde shook his head, "nothing that you probably don't already know, and certainly not any way to remove it. Unless you can make another deal with him, which I don't advise doing, you're stuck with him inside of your little noggin until he decides he's bored with it."

"….I never told anyone about him being inside my head," Dipper said quietly, distrust settling over his features. "How did you know about that?"

"I spend all my free time studying him," William pointed out. "There's not a whole lot of moves that he would make that I'm not familiar with."

"I bet you're _very_ familiar with him," Dipper muttered, looking down at his feet.

"Dipper, I'm not the enemy here," William said gently. There was a gentle pressure as he sat down next to him. "You realize that, right?"

Before he could get a word in, the blonde's fingers lightly traced over the marking on his neck, studying it. Instead of pain like there had been whenever he'd touched it, there was only pleasure with William's tender caress. It enveloped him in a warmth that he could feel down to his toes and elicited a small noise of content from his throat.

The blonde chuckled, "does it tickle or something?"

Dipper shook his head quickly, coming to his senses and leaning away from William's touch. "It just…didn't burn that time," he said quickly, blushing. "Maybe Cipher's resting right now or something."

"Maybe," the blonde mused, standing. "Either way, you should really get dressed. Stanford let me have the day off so we could hang out, and I'm not about to spend it cooped up indoors."


	4. Chapter 4

"What's your connection to my Grunkle and Stanley anyway?" Dipper asked curiously as he walked downstairs after William.

At the teen's earlier instruction he had cleaned himself up, taken a quick shower and gotten dressed into some clean clothes that weren't splattered with the blood he'd coughed out while he slept.

"They helped me out at a bad point in my life," the blond answered cryptically. "Stanford owed me a favor anyway, so I cashed in on it and decided to work here. In return for me working, I stay for free."

"Stanley showed you the journals," he blurted out. "He doesn't trust anyone with those besides Grunkle Stan and Mabel and I. So why you?"

"I have an aptitude for magic," William responded in an almost bored tone as he made his way into the kitchen. "And we seek a common end goal. I can't say that we're friends, because that would be a lie. Call it a reluctant alliance, if you will."

"What's the goal?" he questioned curiously.

"That's confidential Dip-Dip," William answered easily as he pushed a bowl of stir-fry into the microwave. "As in, not allowed to say anything. Sorry, but it's for your own good."

"I fail to see how," he muttered, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"I promise, you'll understand eventually," William murmured. For a moment, he thought he could detect traces of sympathy in the blonde's voice. "But that time is not now. Or any time within the next several months."

He pushed the now hot plate of stir fry in front of Dipper. "Eat. Please. It'll help you regain your strength."

Dipper hesitantly took a bite and made a small face. "It's too spicy."

"Bastard. I'm the one that made it."

"Give me some coffee," he muttered, waving his hand contemptuously.

"Nope!" William exclaimed, placing a glass of purple liquid with sparkles floating around in it in front of him. "It doesn't do to have you so grumpy in the morning. From now on, you're going to drink happy things!"

"No. Go to hell. I refuse to drink that stuff."

"Please!" William whined. "It's really not as bad as it looks Dipper, I promise!"

"The last time I tried that stuff, I was throwing up glitter for a week!"

"Because you're not used to it! Once you are, the glitter puke will stop!"

"Or my intestines will shrivel up and I'll die," he argued, stabbing at the stir fry, deciding that it was way better than the idea of drinking the Mabel Juice.

"Your sister hasn't yet," William pointed out. "Now hurry up – I wanna go outside!"

He rolled his eyes and scarfed down his food, then crossed the room to the sink and rinsed his dishes off. Absentmindedly, he wondered if Bill was still sticking around in his mind, or if the show that morning had been just that – a show.

 _I'm still here Piney,_ the demon's quiet voice was enough to make him jump, and William snickered from behind him. Dipper swiveled around to face him and glared.

"Sorry, sorry!" the blond cackled, waving his hands in front of him in some twisted sort of apology. "It's just – it's so hilarious to see you startled!"

"It's not funny," he quietly deadpanned, brushing past the teen and heading back up to his room. As much as the woods appealed to him, it wouldn't be worth it to be stuck with that asshole all day.

"Wait up," William called, a small hint of desperation in his voice.

Dipper whipped around, coming face to face with the blond. "No, _you_ wait," he hissed. "In the past day I've been shunned by my parents, marked by an annoying dream demon that's decided to live in my head and torture me whenever he feels like it. I have tried to keep a positive attitude about this all, but your flippant little comments left and right aren't helping any." William's face was apologetic, and it was almost enough to make him feel bad. Almost.

"I _do_ understand," he responded softly. "Dipper, I'm sor-."

"You don't even care about this _brand_ on my neck, do you?" the brunette interrupted angrily. "You probably think is funny or something! Pain is hilarious, right?!"

Any trace of happiness that the blond might have had left shattered at Dipper's words. "Y-you really think that about me?" he choked out dejectedly. "That I think this is all some joke? That it's _funny?_ I didn't get a wink of sleep last night because I was too busy trying to figure out the answers to _your_ problems!"

Now Dipper looked away, ashamed of his harsh words and assumptions. "That would explain the Mabel Juice," he mumbled weakly. "You…you didn't have to do all that for me Will."

"Just leave me alone," the teen spat out, turning on his heel and stalking back downstairs. The unforgiving slam of a door let Dipper know that he had stormed completely out of the shack and probably wasn't going to return for the rest of the day.

Dipper walked back to his room and slammed the door shut angrily. "Fuck him," he muttered, going over to his bed and laying down.

 _If you really want to, that can be arranged,_ Bill's snide voice sounded in his mind.

"You can fuck off too," Dipper ground out. "I really fucking hate you."

 _That's where you're wrong, Pine Tree. You want to, but deep down you know that I'm a part of the reason that you're so drawn to this condemned little town. Really, it's impossible to hate me. Do so if you wish though Piney...eventually, you'll learn._

Dipper uttered a small shriek as his neck caught fire, burning harshly against his already-heated skin. Oxygen suddenly seemed to become harder to find, his shrieks growing in sound as the seconds passed. His chest heaved in the effort to retain any air that he could get.

"S-stop!" Dipper gasped, writhing in agony. "P-please, Cipher!"

 _You'll have to do better than that, my little Pine Tree,_ Bill whispered cruelly. _Maybe you're interested in selling me your soul after all?_

"Never," he whispered defiantly through the pain. "I will never submit to you Cipher, and you will never have my soul."

There was a quick rap on the door, followed by a much louder and insistent knock. "Dipper?" Mabel called anxiously. "Are you okay?" Without waiting for any form of response – not like he was really capable of giving it anyway – the door slammed open and his twin ran into the room, Stanley behind her.

"Dipper!" she cried the second she saw his twisted form, running to his side and laying her hands down on his arm in an attempt to make him stop moving.

"Be careful Mabel," Stanley cautioned, slowly walking up behind her and laying a hand on her shoulder. Dipper looked at them both through glazed eyes, his vision unfocused.

"Leave-" He choked out, the pain seemingly beginning to subside. Or was it numbing him completely? "B-Bill…" Fear briefly crossed over his sister's expression at the mention of the dream demon, and he flinched in guilt.

His body seized and he suddenly wasn't in control of himself anymore. "You might want to let go of me Shooting Star!" Bipper hissed, sitting up and raising a flaming hand toward her face. "Or else I might have to force you!"

She let go and backed away, terrified. Dipper tried to regain control of his body, but it was to no avail. _You said no possessions!_ He screamed mentally at Cipher.

"Sorry kid, but they can't interfere with this!" Bipper snarled, pressing the flaming hand against the tattoo of the triangle. The demon possessing him laughed madly through his mouth as Dipper cried in agony, trapped in his own mind and unable to beg for relief.

"What do you want with my brother?" Mabel questioned, taking a small step toward him.

"That's really none of your business, Star," Bipper answered in a mockingly sweet tone. "Though, I promise you'll find out eventually."

"Let him go!" She demanded, anger flaring in her eyes. "Now."

"Not so fast!" Bipper grinned maniacally, holding out the still flaming hand toward her. "First, we've gotta make a deal! I'll quit making his pretty little mark hurt if he agrees to be obedient, and you two have to promise that you won't meddle in our affairs anymore."

"Get out of my grandson's body," Stanley finally muttered quietly, stepping forward and laying a surprisingly gentle hand on Bipper's shoulder. "You don't have to do this to get what you want Cipher."

Bipper stepped out of Stanley's grasp, his face twisting into a sneer. "Don't try to play sympathetic with me old man," he hissed. "You tried to keep me from my Pine Tree, and I'm going to make sure that never happens again. You make the deal, or I'll tell the twins what's _really_ going on."

"Stanley?" Mabel piped up quietly, uncertainty drawn across her features. "W-what's he talking about?"

 _What secret is he hiding now?_ Dipper asked himself in exasperation, thankful that the pain from the mark was going away. _And why is Stanley acting so different around Bill?_

"Tick tock," Bipper taunted, grinning widely. "I'd choose if I were you, Six Fingers – lest everything that you've tried to hide from Dipper come spilling out. We're linked together, so it'd only be too easy to stop time and show him everything." He held a flaming hand out to their grandfather, seeming to relish in the anguish written on his expression.

"You win, Cipher," Stanley finally muttered, a cold and unforgiving look in his eyes as he grasped Bipper's hand with his own. "It's a deal." The demon cackled, focusing his attention on Mabel.

"Y-you can't hurt him-" she said immediately, shooting an unsure look toward their grandfather. "N-not again. Ever."

Bipper rolled his eyes. "I'll do my best Shooting Star," he replied in a sarcastic tone, giving the flaming hand a small wave of impatience. "Now hurry up, before I change my mind."

Mabel shot an unsure glance at Stanley, then took Bipper's hand upon a small nod. "Deal." She spoke softly, her voice trembling with the syllable that sealed Dipper's fate.

 _Now let me go,_ Dipper thought angrily to the demon. _They made the deal, it's over Cipher._

"They made the deal Pine Tree," Bipper hissed, digging a set of Dipper's nails into his arms – Dipper supposed that it was to do as much damage as he could before exiting his body. "It's your turn now. Do we have a deal or not?" The demon raked the nails up Dipper's arm, tearing the skin and leaving trails of blood behind.

 _Yes,_ he finally answered quietly, and was tossed back in control of his own body.

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed worriedly as he lurched and stumbled on his feet. She caught him before he could fall and gently eased him back onto his bed as his vision faded completely.

* * *

"-and I swear that if you pull another fucking string like that, I'm going to kill you!"

Dipper opened his eyes slowly, then quickly forced them mostly shut when he caught wind of what was going on. Grunkle Stan had William pinned against the wall by the throat, holding a knife against his jugular.

"You said to make it convincing," William hissed back. "We had a deal Stanford, and Piney here was getting too close to figuring it out!"

"You weren't supposed to go about it this way!" his great uncle shouted, throwing him to the ground. The teen immediately scrambled to his feet, shooting a glare at the old man.

"He finds out on my terms!" William snapped. "Or are you forgetting that?"

"You hurt him one more time-"

"It won't be as bad," the blond interrupted. "But I can't keep a damn bubble around him at all times; he'd find out."

"You're lucky to be alive," Grunkle Stan muttered, straightening his tie. "I should kill you."

"You can't kill an immortal being," William whispered, walking closer to Dipper. He slowly fluttered his eyes closed, praying that he wouldn't be found out. "And if you break your end, I break mine. It only takes a few seconds for the apocalypse to strike and them to die, old man. I'm _sure_ you don't want that."

A delicate hand reached out to caress his cheek and his heart beat quicker in his chest. "So fragile, humans are," a murmur sounded close to his ear, then something soft brushed against the skin of his neck. "But _you're_ not, Pine Tree. You're special, special enough for me to want to keep you. As a treat, I'll even let you keep Shooting Star and the blondie that she's so fond of."

"You disgust me," his great uncle rasped, his voice echoing around the room.

A quiet cackle filled his ears. "But of course. You might want to quiet down Stanford, your little tree can hear you."

"He's awake?"

"He's heard every word of this." There was another soft cackle and skin – it felt like lips – brushed over the constellation birthmark on his forehead. "And yet, when he wakes up…he won't know any of this." There was a sudden breeze of cool air against his face and he found himself slipping away again. "This will all just have been a dream."

* * *

"Dipper…" A small voice echoed in his ears. "Wake up. Please. Let me know he didn't off you completely." It had to have been Mabel, because only she would fret over him like that.

A small groan slipped out of his mouth, and he blinked open his eyes wearily to see his sister leaning over him, apprehension clear in her expression.

"Mabel," he whispered, his vision focusing and unfocusing again as he regained a sense of who he was. His head hurt and he felt like there was something that he was supposed to remember….but what was it? "What happened?"

"Bipper happened," she mumbled quietly, sitting down on the edge of his bed, toying with the ends of her sweater nervously. "Bill took control of your mind and snapped."

"I remember." He wearily lifted the arm that bore the scratch marks, not even surprised to find them already scarred over, long and a pale shade of pink. "I was trapped in my mind the entire time. I had to watch as he threatened to burn you…as he manipulated you the way he did."

"He was threatening to kill you Dipper," Mabel whispered, frowning. For once, her expression was hard to read - her attempt at staying strong. "I know that he didn't say anything about it, but I could see it in his eyes. If we didn't listen….there was no telling what he would have done to you."

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that," he apologized.

"Don't be!" Mabel snapped, losing her composure. "None of this is your fault, Dipper. You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, that demon should be the one apologizing to _you."_

"We both know he's not going to do that," Dipper pointed out.

"He should, damn him."

"Cipher's a fucked up piece of work," he told her quietly. "He has some sort of goal that he's trying to achieve, and I'm going to find out what it is and stop him."

 _You think it's that simple, Pine Tree?_ For once it was easy to ignore the voice of Bill Cipher in his mind. Dipper did so with a surprising effortlessness, and continued.

"But not now. I have the rest of my life to put an end to this. I'm going to make up for last night now. Call Pacifica, we're going out tonight."

"What about William?" Mabel asked in a small voice. "I know you have your suspicions about him-"

"That's another deal," he cut in, sitting up. After a moment, he stood on shaky legs praying that the ground wouldn't suddenly rise up to collide with his face again. "You go arrange everything with Paz, and I'll go talk to Will. I…said some things earlier, and I feel like I need to apologize for it."

Mabel's eyes lit up with hope. "You're serious this time? Like, really serious? You'll give him a second chance?"

"He's been nothing but nice and helpful to me since I met him," Dipper admitted, once again ashamed of his earlier words. "He more than deserves an apology from me."

With that, he slowly walked out of the room and made his way downstairs, vaguely wondering if he'd find William in the shack. He highly doubted it, from the way the teen had stormed out earlier. Which left one option….he would have to go to the small kinda-home-ish place that William had told him about. He walked outside and to the building at the edge of the woods, hesitating before knocking.

"Enter," a weary voice that he knew had to be William's called out from inside just after his knuckles had left the wood.

He did so slowly, and was surprised at what he saw. The walls of the shack were painted a dark color, close to black and it was accompanied by a grey carpet. A door was opened on the left side of the room he was standing in, revealing a small, pristine white bathroom. Overall, it was bigger than he thought.

William was laying down on what looked like a king sized bed that was properly outfitted with a black blanket that had golden swirls intricately painting a pattern across it.

"Hey," he started quietly, shuffling his feet nervously.

"You came here for a purpose," the blond stated insipidly, not moving his eye from the ceiling above him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "For being so rude to you and everything. You didn't deserve it."

William sat up and stared at him, then shrugged and motioned for him to sit on a large cream colored chaise lounge that was tactically placed on the wall opposite where he was standing, facing the bed.

"You can continue," he murmured as soon as Dipper was seated.

"Right," he started, pausing for a moment. "Anyway, it's been a rough first day back at Gravity Falls, and I wanted to invite you out with Mabel and Pacifica and I tonight."

"That's an interesting proposition," William murmured, laying back down. "What did you have in mind?"

"That, I wasn't so sure about," he admitted with a light blush. "You live here in Gravity Falls, so I was thinking that maybe you knew where the best spots are to hang out."

The blond stretched and yawned, "there's a club that Paz and I occasionally go to that should do the trick."

"B-but," he stuttered, his face going red. "P-Paz and Mabel and I are underage."

He snorted contemptuously. "You think that's stopped us before? Trust me Dip-Dip, a little charm and flattery can get you everywhere."

"I'll…go tell Mabel then," he finally murmured, getting up.

"Hey." William's voice was quiet and it held a certain note in it that made him listen, want to stay. "Thank you, Dipper. Nobody's ever really gone out of their way so much to apologize to me before."

He nodded and left so Will could dress in peace, thinking deeply. Did he even _have_ any clothes suitable enough to go clubbing? It was a given for Pacifica since she seemed to frequent the place, and Mabel was her best friend.

"They'll figure something out," he muttered as he walked into the shack.

"Hey Dipper," Pacifica greeted the second he walked into the living room. "Will texted and told me that we're going to a club tonight. I picked something up along the way for you because I figured that you wouldn't have anything to wear."

"I-" he was cut off by the blonde tossing a garment bag at him, and groaned when he saw what it was.

"You like?" she asked cockily, a hand on her hip. "Looks just like the one you wore for that dumb puppet play that Mabel did when you guys were twelve. Except, you know, I modified the jacket a little bit so it's not as reverend like. Fancier and…more attractive."

"I do _not_ need memories of that right now," he muttered, folding the garment bag over an arm delicately. "Speaking of, Will and I only just decided what we were going to do tonight. How'd you get here so quickly?"

She rolled her eyes, "honestly Dipper, you're so predictable. He knew you'd feel bad about being such an asshat toward him and when you got possessed by that Cipher creep, he figured that you'd need a pick-me-up. I was just waiting for Mabel to call."

"Right…" he muttered slowly, still not figuring out how it all added up. He was predictable? Or did the triangle in his mind _make_ him predictable?

 _You've got a sharp mind, Pine Tree,_ Cipher mused, and he could almost feel the demon shuffling around in his head. _But I'm afraid that's not the case. Your precious Will is just that good._

"Either way, Mabel's upstairs, right? You kind of put a downer on everything last night, so we didn't really get to hang out for that long."

He sighed, starting toward the stairs. "Yeah, she is."

"So what was possession like?" Pacifica asked as she trailed up the stairs after him. "I mean, while you were still inside your own body?"

"I hated it," he answered shortly. "Mabel almost got hurt, and there wasn't anything I could do about it."

There was a stretch of silence before she finally responded again. "God, he was right. You really _do_ need this."

He rolled his eyes and branched away from her as she went into their bedroom, opting to get changed into the suit instead. He locked the bathroom door securely behind him and turned to strip, then paused when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

His hair was unkempt from him being in bed all day, and there was stubble starting to grow on his face that he hadn't bothered with that morning because the original plan was to go into the woods and search for answers. Now though….

He shook the thought away and tilted his head to the left so that Cipher's mark was fully exposed in the light. Even though it symbolized everything that he didn't want to be…he had to admit, it was kind of cool. If he ever got a tattoo, though it wouldn't have been his original first choice, he might have eventually gotten something akin to it to represent all that the demon had put him through.

 _I'm glad you're starting to warm up to it,_ Cipher purred into his mind. _Now here, if you let me possess you for just a minute, I can make you look snappy in seconds!_

"Hell to the no," he muttered darkly, stripping out of his clothing. He tugged on the slacks, then realized that if he was going to shave, it might be a better option to forego the shirt for the time being. Mabel would take a while to get ready too, right?

He hummed a small tune as he applied the shaving cream to his face and began pulling the razor over his skin with a delicacy that one would use when handling a newly born baby.

 _You know,_ Cipher tried, _it would be too easy for me to take control of that pretty little hand of yours and slit your face open. From what I've seen in your memories, that kind of pain isn't a pleasant kind._

"You'd like it," he muttered sourly as he finished and washed the rest of his face off. "Why are you asking permission anyway? I figured you'd just do whatever you wanted since you seem to anyway."

 _I had to….modify our little deal. Instead of just hopping into your shoes whenever I want, I figured that you would appreciate me taking an extra step for your obedience. Therefore, I have to be given consent before I can possess you._

"You said no possessions in the first place," he ground out, rubbing his face dry with a towel. "You fucking lied to me, Cipher."

 _I said I would communicate with you, and that binding our minds wasn't possession. That wasn't a lie, Pine Tree. I never said that I couldn't or wouldn't take control._

"You're not ever going to have it again," he muttered as he pulled the dress shirt on and buttoned it up, then tossed the coat on over it.

"Pacifica was right," he mused as he looked over his shoulder at the dress coat. "This does look better. I don't see why normal clothes couldn't have worked though."

 _Trust me Piney, you look better in what you're wearing. You're forgetting the tie around your neck though._

"Right," he mumbled, beginning to toy with it. "Can't forget about that."

Neither of them said anything for several minutes as he fumbled with the tie helplessly, until Bill finally cut in with his sickly sweet, snide voice.

 _I can help you with that, if you'd like._

"Fuck that!" he snarled, his hands moving more frantically in an attempt to prove the demon wrong. "You're not taking control of my body again!"

 _So you'd rather ask your sister or_ blondie _for help? Or go out there, and it's done completely wrong? You're setting yourself up to look like a fool._

He hesitated, knowing that Cipher had a point. Before he could ask the question that was rising to his lips, the demon was already answering.

 _I give you my word, Pine Tree. It'll be just for a minute. Besides, I've done that tie before with your hands, I can do it again with no problem!_

"Okay," he finally whispered in defeat after a few minutes of silence.

Instead of being pushed back into the far crevices of his mind like the last time, it was like he could _feel_ the demon pushing against him, coming up beside him to co-inhabit instead of dominate. He stared with awe at the mirror as he watched one of his eyes turn a yellowish color, the pupil turning into a small cat-like one.

"There," Bill murmured with his mouth as he raised his hands to quickly make the knot that he hadn't been able to figure out earlier. When he was done, he struck a cocky pose and grinned. "See, Pine Tree? With me by your side, nothing can go wrong!"

It took a second, but he was able to easily regain control of his own mouth. "Time to go back now," he hissed lowly so the girls wouldn't hear. "Give me my body back."

 _Easily done._ Dipper watched with a growing fascination as his eye slowly changed back to normal and became his own again.

"That was so weird," he whispered, running his hands over his face to ensure that he really was himself. "Yet so undeniably cool at the same time."

There was a loud knock on the door then. "Dipper," his sister called. "Are you okay? You've been in there for a long time and we heard you talking to yourself. Or….were you talking to Bill?"

"I'm great," he said honestly, opening the door and stepping out. Mabel was leaning against the wall next to the door, uncertainty in her expression. "Bill was just helping me work out an issue real quick. Are we just about ready to go?"

"We're waiting on William," she replied easily.

In the time that he'd spent in the bathroom, she'd changed into a strapless beige colored dress that went down to her knees and featured a sheer overlayer that created small golden, sparkling patterns over the dress. Pacifica had curled her hair, and the shoes that she wore matched the dress by both color and sparkle.

"And I'm here!" the blond announced, striking a pose at the top of the steps that made Dipper's heart do a little flip when he looked over. William wore almost exactly what he had the night before, except this time the jacket was different and he wore a medium length top hat.

Actually, now that he thought about it…

 _Your jacket is the same cut,_ Bill supplied helpfully. _Except it has a slit going up a little from the center in the back, to split it apart slightly. By human standards, it looks fairly attractive on you._

He blushed, both at his own thoughts about William, and at the demon's compliment. _Uhh…thanks?_

 _You're welcome._

"Let's go then," Pacifica remarked as she walked out of the bedroom. "There's only so long that we can wait before we lose our VIP spot and have to wait in line like everyone else."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey there everyone! Sorry about the _complete_ lack of updates, I have honestly no excuse for it. Tbh, I've kinda drifted away from FFN in the past several months, shifting almost completely over to Ao3. Which, speaking of, quick reminder that this is crossposted over there, and way more up to date if you guys wanna catch up. If you prefer to stay here, great. I'll be doing double updates every few days then, till this one's caught up =)**

 **Also, I've never been one to self-advertise much, but my beta's been pressing me to do so more often, so yeah. I'd put the link up on here, but I forgot that this dumbass site doesn't allow links. It under the same name and everything under there though, just a different summary. There's a link to my Ao3 on my tumblr also.**

 **And, my tumblr:** **angelofmysteries . tumblr . c o m (remove the spaces, stupid ffn -_-)**


	5. Chapter 5

Loud music hummed in Dipper's ears and the bass beat loudly around him in a way that he could feel it like his own pulse. He leaned against one wall of the club, watching the people dance in the center of the room with an expression of disinterest. Every once in a while, his eyes would flicker over to the bar, where William was sweet talking a female bartender. Mabel and Pacifica had long since gone to the center of the room to dance and if they weren't there anymore….quite frankly, he didn't want to know.

He grit his teeth as William leaned closer to the bartender and moved his lips slowly in a seductive way that made him see red. "Right," he muttered angrily, about ready to march over to him and give him a piece of his mind. "Let's go to a club Dipper, it'll be fun!" He snorted, "he probably just said that so he could flirt with her."

 _Quiet, Pine Tree. You're stupider than you look._

"Do you not see him?" he hissed quietly, so the people around him wouldn't hear.

 _I can see him alright, but I'm half blinded by your blatant anger and envy. If it gets to you so badly, why don't you do something about it?_

"I thought you wanted me to act rationally," he muttered. "Do less things like that."

 _I do, but it was enough of a distraction. Your pretty boy is headed over now, and he's going to expect a thank you for all of his hard work._

Sure enough, William was walking over towards him with a wide smile, carrying two drinks. One was a margarita – Will's, he assumed- and the other was unidentifiable. Most likely, that was the drink intended for him.

"Look what I scored," William sang quietly. "Told you that flattery would get you everywhere!"

"Thanks," Dipper muttered begrudgingly as he took the tall glass and sipped once. "You seemed pretty close to that girl up there."

"Her perfume was too strong for my taste," the blond countered drily. "I don't really have a thing for females that have way too big of boobs and then try to push them towards me as if it's actually appealing." He downed half his glass in one swig, catching Dipper's eye with a wicked grin. "You know, if I didn't know any better…I'd think you were jealous."

"Are not," he muttered acidulously, taking a large gulp of his drink and savoring the feel of the burning it caused as he swallowed.

 _See Piney? Some pain is good!_ Bill interjected cheerfully.

 _Go to hell,_ he thought back, taking another large sip.

"You wanna go someplace to talk?" William suggested, downing the rest of his drink. "Now that you've got some liquid courage in you? It might do you some good…"

"Sure," he found himself agreeing as he followed the blond's example and finished what was in his glass.

William smirked and took his hand as the aftereffects started hitting him, causing him to almost stumble and his vision to blur. Suddenly, it was like he was separate from his mind. The music became so much clearer and every nerve inside of him was suddenly hypersensitive, the heat from the dancing crowd hitting him like a ton of bricks. He could feel his heartbeat thrumming through him with every step he took, could hear it in his ears.

The blond led him up to the second floor of the club, then higher until they were outside standing on top of the roof, and higher still.

He looked down, dumbfounded to see the top of the roof at least five feet under them by the time William stopped. "We're…."

"Levitating," William replied close to his ear. "There are some perks to being experienced with magic, Dipper. Now, look ahead of you and relax. Sit down." He did, and was surprised that the air had become a sort of ledge, solid under his weight.

William sat down next to him, his feet dangling over the 'ledge' somehow. "Now you can talk," he said quietly. "Say anything you want. There are no other ears here besides mine, no eyes to judge."

"Today's been shit," was the first thing to fly out of his mouth.

William chuckled, "tell me about it. I know it's been worse than hell for you, but it hasn't been easy on me either."

He sighed, burying his face in his hands. "I graduated two days ago, and I'm already regretting it."

"Don't let the stress get to you," William advised, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay."

"It's not," he mumbled, massaging his temple with the tips of his fingers. "I have a damn annoying and psychotic demon inside of my head."

"True. It could be worse though."

Dipper lifted his head and glared at the blond. "You've got to be kidding me. How can it get any worse than this?"

"Cipher could have chosen to hurt your sister," William murmured, gazing back at him evenly. "He could have taken a million other things, demanded things of more value to you than a small space in your mind in exchange for your life."

"You're defending him now?"

"I'm just saying," the blond told him gently. "Bill Cipher can be dangerous if he wants to be. To me, it seems like you should be counting yourself lucky. It's rare for a demon such as himself to find a human that he likes well enough to bind his mind to."

"Lucky?! H-he threatened me!" Dipper spluttered, his face growing red. "There's no way in _hell_ that I could ever like him!"

"Is that the case?" the elder teen mused, smirking wickedly. "The way I see it, you're just embarrassed to be holding the affections of a demon as powerful as Bill."

"I'm _not_ embarrassed." His voice grew rough with anger, brought forth from the blonde's assumption that he had feelings for a _triangle,_ of all things. "Bill tried to kill me and forced me into making a deal that I never agreed to. If you even think for a _second_ that I like him-"

"Have you ever thought that maybe the demon's just attempting to catch your attention in the only way he knows how?" William interrupted, his gaze changing to one of genuine curiosity. "In all my studies of demons and the like, I've discovered that they don't completely understand the way humans live."

"He's doing a hell of a job then," Dipper deadpanned. "He's spent the last several years making an enemy out of me, Will. I don't see why on earth he'd suddenly do a 180 and try to grab my attention."

"I've spent all my time studying him," William pointed out quietly. "Honestly, nothing about this whole situation makes any sense to me either." He barked out a short laugh, running his hand through his hair in what looked like frustration. "Why would he want to bind himself to a human in the first place? He views them as nothing more than toys…pawns in his own little game of chance!"

"…Are you okay?" Dipper asked quietly, startled by the elder teen's sudden outburst of ire.

"Trust me kid," Will bit out through slightly gritted teeth. "I've looked at every source that I could, double checked each journal a million times over again with the blacklight. I'm no closer to finding any answers than you were when you were twelve." The blond sighed then, and they both fell into a more than awkward silence as Dipper tried to sort out his thoughts.

 _Bill?_ he tried calling out mentally, wondering if the demon was around. For all he knew, the demon could have been watching over somebody else in Gravity Falls, someone whose mind wasn't as clouded as his was. He was met with silence, and gave up after a moment.

Dipper leaned his head against William's tense shoulder, closing his eyes dizzily. Whatever he'd been given was really starting to do a number on his brain, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was on purpose. The instant effect that the drink had had on him was nice at first but it was starting to ebb away, leaving him feeling more drained than he had that morning.

"You still holding up over there, Dippingsauce?" the elder teen asked nonchalantly, his good mood seeming to have returned.

"Not really," he groaned, his head beginning to throb with the threat of an oncoming headache. "Whatever the fuck you gave me was strong."

"It was meant to be," Will answered cheerfully.

"You know…" Dipper perused after staying silent for a couple of minutes. A second wave of the alcohol's effect hit him then, slightly slurring the rest of his speech. "I've gotta a theory 'bout chou," he muttered.

"You do?" William hummed in Dipper's ear teasingly. Somehow, of _course,_ he was still completely sober whereas Dipper was the opposite. "This should be good~ Please, do tell."

"I had this thought." Suddenly, Dipper's mind was clearing just enough so he could speak openly, as if he'd never drunken anything in the first place. Had Will done that? "Y'see, you're a lot like him. You have the same sounding nickname, and you dress like he does. When I met you yesterday, I thought that you were Bill Cipher. Dumb, right?"

"You have sharp eyes," the blond murmured lowly in his ear, sending a chill down his spine. "What if, say, your little theory about me is correct?"

"You can't be Bill," he whispered, his heart almost stopping in disbelief. "Because you see, I like you too much for you to be him. You're too nice...and you're more helpful to me than he ever was. It wouldn't add up."

"That's an interesting perspective."

"You're an interesting person," he breathed, sluggishly looking over to see that William was staring at him intently, a slight gleam of victory shining in his eye.

"Today's been a day," the elder teen murmured, changing the subject. "Did your drink help relieve it? The stress Cipher caused?"

"Mostly," he sighed, closing his eyes again and ignoring the impulse that beat inside of him, reminding him why he stopped being near people in the first place.

"I can help with that, you know." There was a pause and then the brunet's headache slowly began to fade, William's doing for sure. He'd said that he worked with magic, right?

He opened his eyes in surprise to find that William had shifted and was now on his knees, his gaze even more intense. "H-how?"

"You likely won't remember this when you wake up tomorrow," the blond warned. "Half the reason I gave you alcohol in the first place…to forget."

He held out a hand for Dipper to take, and there was little hesitation when he did a moment later. William stood and he automatically followed, curious as to where he would be taken next. He was gently pushed back until he pressed against a pocket of air that came up like a wall, which he was pretty sure was also William's doing.

"I want to try something," William breathed, stepping closer to Dipper still. "I've experienced a lot of things in life, but never something like this."

The blond leaned in and brushed his lips against Dipper's briefly, then pulled away again. He blinked a couple of times, then grinned in a way that made the brunette melt.

"You…just kissed me," he whispered, blushing.

"I did."

"W-why would you do that?"

"I've never kissed a person before."

He stared unabashedly at the blond, shaking his head slightly to be sure that he wasn't just dreaming. "How?"

William shrugged, "never on my to-do list, I guess."

Dipper hesitated before speaking again. "D-do you want to try again? T-that wasn't a kiss."

William's gaze was serious as he raised a hand gently to touch Dipper's face. "It'd be taking advantage of you Dipper, and as much fun as it sounds, I'm morally obligated to _not_ do so."

"I want you to," he blurted out suddenly, his face burning with embarrassment. "I-you said it yourself, this is just to release our stress, right?"

"It wouldn't mean a thing to you?"

"No." _Yes. Not that I want you to know that._

"I honestly don't have a clue of what I'm doing," the blonde admitted, trailing the hand that had been resting on his cheek down to a shoulder.

"Neither do I, so we're kind of even."

William's breath fanned across his cheek as he brushed his lips against the skin. "I _really_ don't want to hurt you any more than I already have," he murmured, his other hand making its way around his neck to rest on his back. "Kissing you would do that."

"It doesn't matter if I won't remember though," he argued breathlessly.

"Does too. I'd remember, and that's bad enough."

"Think of it as my apology then. Fuck, I treated you like shit earlier."

"That makes no sense," William whispered as he leaned in. "But you've convinced me." The blonde brushed his lips gently over Dipper's another time, then leaned back again. Dipper gazed into his serious eye, watching as the elder teen seemed to study him.

Finally after about an agonizing minute of waiting, Dipper finally gave in to the primal instincts within him and wound a hand around William's neck, his fingers burying themselves in the wondrously soft locks of gold. He tugged the blonde's head forward and pressed his lips against William's soft ones, molding them to the shape. A moment passed in which Dipper assumed that William was too startled to do anything, and then he kissed him back. Dipper pulled away after about half a minute and stared at the blond affectionately.

"That's how you kiss," he found himself whispering as he turned a deep shade of red.

"We should head back," William murmured, a hand coming up to draw figure eights on his cheek absentmindedly. There was a small amount of emotion in his cerulean eye, something that Dipper decided was surprise. "Before Mabel and Pacifica start to notice our questionable absence."

"If they're around," he replied. "What if they're not?"

"I'll get us back to the Shack. They can walk."

"That's horrible. And cruel."

"You like the idea though." A small smirk ghosted over the blonde's lips. "You can't deny it either Dipper, the look in your eyes says more than enough."

He didn't even notice that they were back on the rooftop of the club until William was gently coaxing him back to the doorway they'd come from. He followed him in, looking around carefully for signs of either Mabel or Paz, not surprised when he found no trace of them.

"Do you think they're even here?" He had to yell above the music to be heard, but Will's soft voice cut through it easily.

"One way to find out."

And suddenly the blond was tugging a little harder on the hand that he held as they cut through the crowds, the only destination in mind being the place they'd just come from. They stepped outside, scanning the street side for Dipper's car.

A quiet chuckle escape Will's lips when their search turned up unsuccessful. "Those little brats hijacked your car."

"I…" Dipper faltered, digging his hands into his pockets in search of his keys. He groaned when he realized that, at some point while he'd been jealously watching the blond flirt with the bartender, Mabel must have taken his keys. "Damn it," he hissed lowly, his face growing red from embarrassment. "W-what now?"

"We could always call them," Will mused thoughtfully. "Or I can save us half the trouble and just go call a taxi. Or, we could start walking."

"Gravity Falls is half an hour away!" he exclaimed. "It would take us forever to get there!"

"I'll call that taxi then." The blond walked away a short distance and pulled out his cell phone, hitting a few numbers rapidly then holding it up to his ear.

He returned a few minutes later, smiling widely. "Taxi will be here in a few minutes. What kind of revenge do you want?"

Dipper shook his head quickly, unsure if he heard correctly. "Revenge?"

"Do you have any idea how much that taxi driver is gonna charge me to get there?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized immediately, looking down at the ground. "I can cover it…"

"Don't even. I've got a pretty nice allowance saved up, so I'll take care of it. In any case, the girls need to pay for their insolence. What kind sounds good to you?"

"None, really," he mumbled. "I'm sure this is just some misunderstanding."

"We could egg her car," the blond suggested. "Or draw on their faces with sharpies."

"That second one is actually kind of appealing," he admitted as a yellow taxi pulled to the curb in front of them. "What should we draw?"

"Whatever you feel like," William replied easily as he climbed into the taxi. Dipper followed, feeling like an idiot. "Duh."

Dipper closed his eyes sometime later as the taxi slowly made its way towards Gravity Falls, weaving through traffic and finally making its way into the wooded countryside. At one point, he leaned his head against William's shoulder, and he felt the elder teen secure an arm around his waist in response.

"Don't go dropping off to sleep now," William whispered softly into his ear. "We're getting closer and I don't think you want to suffer the humiliation of having to be carried into the house."

"'m tired though," he complained.

"And I'll hit you if you drool on my jacket."

"Can't be worse than what Cipher did."

The blond under him stiffened for just a moment before responding. "You know, there's an X Files marathon on right now. I was going to stay up and suffer through it with you…"

"Really?" An eye shot open, the news warding off any sleep he might have been descending into. "I'm game for a marathon."

"No, no." William stated teasingly. "All young Dippers need their rest. I'll carry you to your room like the little baby you are."

"Please don't," he groaned, lifting his head from the blonde's shoulder. "Is all that really necessary?"

"Of course it is." The Mystery Shack loomed ahead, and Dipper took it as his cue to blink the sleep out of his eyes.

William paid the driver and they stepped out of the cab and started toward the front door, Dipper stumbling every few steps.

"Sorry," he mumbled as they made it to the door. "I'll totally pay you back for the ride."

"Nonsense."

Dipper let out a small squeak as the blond unlocked the door and picked him up, cradling the brunette in his arms. "Now, be a good little kitten and shut up," William murmured as he carried him inside.

He blushed in mortification. "Who told you about that?"

"Mabel."

"Of course she did."

Instead of going up to the twins' shared room like he'd said, William carried Dipper over to the couch and sat down, settling the brunette in his lap.

"Hey!" Dipper protested, his face growing redder. "I-I thought we were going to my room!"

The blonde snorted, "and walk in on your sister and Pacifica doing who knows what? No thanks! I'd rather stay here and suffer through the X Files."

"Let me move, then," he muttered. "And at least grab a blanket. The shack normally gets pretty cold at night."

He scooted down to settle comfortably between William's legs, blushing furiously. The blond took a blanket from the back of the couch and threw it over them, then grabbed the remote and flipped to the channel that the marathon was on.

"I really don't understand how you can stand this," William muttered sometime later as Dipper watched with rapt attention. "The facts are all wrong, and they're going about it wrong too."

"How should they be, then?" He asked curiously.

"There's no way I'm going to tell you," the blond deadpanned. "If I do, I know that you're going to go outside later and try it."

"That's rude," Dipper murmured, shifting slightly. "I thought you liked mystery hunting too."

"I do," William replied attentively. "I'm not going to elaborate, because the only way to track aliens is dangerous. Your life isn't worth that much knowledge, kid."

"And there we go with that nickname again," he muttered, stifling a yawn.

"You should be getting some sleep," the blonde chastised, turning the volume on the television down to a low hum. "Instead of staying up and watching this. Isn't your great uncle going to start teaching you how to run the Shack tomorrow?"

Dipper stretched, managing a small nod. "Yeah…I'll be hungover as fuck, too. This'll be fun."

"If you sleep, the hangover probably won't be as bad as you think."

"You're right," he grumbled, leaning back to rest his head on Will's chest. "It'll be ten times worse."

William chuckled warmly. "I promise you, it'll be gone when you wake up in the morning. Just close your eyes…clear your mind."

"Okay," Dipper breathed, yawning again. He closed his eyes lightly, allowing the soft noise of the X Files marathon to lull him to sleep.

* * *

A shift in air was what prompted Dipper to open his eyes to a suddenly grayscale world. He sighed in annoyance and shifted into a sitting position.

""You may as well come out," he muttered dryly to the air. "I know you're there Bill."

"Give the boy a cookie!" Bill exclaimed in his usual enigmatic tone as he materialized out of nowhere. "I'll say, it's been quite a day Pine Tree! And even better, you're already getting used to me being in your mind!"

"I still hate you," he deadpanned, leaning against a tree that had suddenly popped out of the ground – most likely his mind's doing. "I accept what you forced onto me only because I dislike the consequences of defying you more. As soon as I can find a way to banish you back to where you came from, you're out."

A slight red tinged the demon's yellow form, but his tone was cheerful as he replied. "Sorry Piney, but that's not gonna happen anytime soon! Besides, even if you could find a way to get me out of your head, it'll be impossible to send me away for good."

"Wha-how?" Dipper found himself asking curiously.

"Just a few cleverly placed deals here and there," Bill replied in an almost bored tone, his body returning to yellow. "Nothing you really need to be concerning yourself with Pine Tree."

Dipper fell silent at Cipher's words, thinking deeply. Had Stanley been right about the protective tattoos he'd been suggesting? Would they really force the demon out of his mind for good?

"Only for as long as you want me out of it," the demon stated smugly. "I'll still be able to invade your dreams like I did your great uncle's mind that one time, so it won't do you much good."

"It'll be enough," the brunette ground out, dragging a stick over the dirt to draw a small caricature of the triangle. "It's enough for my Grunkle, so it'll be for me too."

"I won't be gone for very long," Cipher's voice dropped a few octaves, and the demon floated closer to where Dipper was stretched out. "Just you wait Pine Tree, you'll come running back to me when you're at your worst. And then…the pretty little tattoo that you're thinking of getting will be useless."

"You're wrong," Dipper muttered, refusing to look at the demon and give him the satisfaction that his words had gotten to him. "I'll teach myself to block you out, like Stan did."

"You can try," Bill hummed, mimicking the position that Dipper was resting in. "I've seen the possible futures kid, and in only one of them were you ever without me."

"It's possible then."

"Highly unlikely." The demon cackled then, sending a chill down the brunette's spine. "You were only without me because I chose to stay away from you. Not the other way around."

"You're lying." He was unsure now, thoughts stumbling over one another as they tried to make sense of what Bill was predicting. "You have to be. You can't see into the future…it's impossible." The laughter only grew, echoing in his ears until he recoiled and curled himself into a ball, attempting to block out the sound.

"That's beautiful, kid!" Cipher exclaimed, a look of amusement crossing over his eye. "I'm an omnipotent demon that has the power to destroy all of mankind and yet you think that I can't gaze into the future? Hilarious!"

He lifted his head to glare at the dream demon, stiffening as a high-pitched shriek broke the air, a second one joining it moments after. "Mabel," he breathed, recognizing the first sound as his sister's immediately.

Bill cackled, "I wouldn't go back there just yet kid - it's not a pretty sight!"

"You have to let me go back!" He shouted, jumping to his feet. "She's in trouble!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Bill chortled, and he was suddenly pushed roughly out of the mindscape.

His eyes shot open, the sound of laughter piercing his ears. He blinked a couple of times, confused. Mabel was in danger…wasn't she?

"Morning," a low voice rumbled from under him, and his head shot up in alarm.

Somehow overnight, Dipper had turned over and decided to use William's chest as a makeshift – surprisingly soft – pillow. His face turned red in mortification as he noticed that not only had he used the elder teen as a pillow, but that they had also somehow managed to completely tangle themselves up in each other as they slept.

"You should see your faces!" Mabel's voice rang out, bringing his attention to her. So _that's_ where the shrieking in his dream had come from…

Mabel and Pacifica were both standing in front of the TV, practically falling over each other as they laughed. Mabel was holding up her camera, and Pacifica was twirling a sharpie in her fingers with a devilish grin on her face.

A quiet chuckle prompted Dipper to look back at William. The blonde's face was accessorized with a sharpied goatee and mustache.

"You really _should_ see your face," William murmured quietly. "I don't think you'd like it very much…but considering their sense of humor, it's almost cute."

"What did they do?" he asked, quickly scrambling to get off the older teenager.

Pacifica started laughing loudly again then. She fished into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a small compact mirror, then handed it to Dipper. "Good luck getting that off!" she giggled.

He opened the compact nervously, almost shrieking when he saw what they'd scribbled on his face. They'd clipped his hair back and drew over his birthmark, outlining it, and wrote _Property of William_ on his right cheek in big letters.

"Mabel!" he screeched, panicking and turning a whole new shade of red at the side. "Grunkle Stan's supposed to be teaching me how to lead tours today! I can't go outside like this!"

"I kind of like it," William teased with a small smirk. "But that might be because it's my name and not somebody else's."

He was about ready to snap at the blond, but faltered as the words sprang to his lips. What was he _doing?_ He'd woken up, terrified that something bad was happening to his sister, and instead he got to see her laughing, everything as right as rain. True, his face was probably going to be inked for the rest of the week but it wasn't anything that his Pine Tree hat and, dare he say it – some concealer – wouldn't fix.

He managed a small chuckle, looking around at the jovial expressions of his friends. _William had a point,_ he mused. _Bill could have taken so much more from me…but he didn't._

Things would be okay.

* * *

 **A/N: And the final update for today, the next to come by Sunday eve at the latest. Honestly, this is the perfect place to leave off for now anyway, because it's the end of the introductory arc. A long time ago, back when this was a fledgeling fic, it had next to zero plot and I had no idea what I was doing, as evidenced by the sporadicness of these five chapters. I promise you, this fic gets so much better and fluid, darker and more plot-heavy. It'll be a ride =)**


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